City's Defense Consistently in Disarray, Still Confident in Guardiola?

The story often experienced by Manchester City throughout this season repeated itself when facing Brighton and Hove Albion. After taking the lead first, even leading twice, City once again lost full points due to extremely poor defensive organization.

City was held to a 2-2 draw by the visiting team Brighton at Etihad Stadium, Manchester, on Saturday night (15/3/2025) WIB. The result appeared disappointing considering the halftime score, with the home team leading 2-1. However, City seemed fortunate by the end of the match as they managed to secure one point.

Manager Josep Guardiola's team squandered midfielder Omar Marmoush's "spark" in the first half. Marmoush earned a penalty in the 11th minute, which was executed by Erling Haaland. City led 1-0. Brighton briefly equalized through a free kick by Pervis Estupinan.

Approaching halftime, Marmoush once again showcased his skills with a long-range shot from outside the penalty box. He put City ahead again at the break. The home team appeared to be in good shape. They managed to limit Brighton's threats. The only conceded goal came from a set piece.

However, a special lesson for this season: never watch City for just one half. This was immediately proven only three minutes after the second half began. The 21-year-old defender Abdukodir Khusanov misjudged the ball during a corner kick setup, resulting in an own goal.

Since then, City has increasingly not looked like a defending champion team. "After conceding the second goal, it felt as if we lost confidence and belief. The performance declined, and we started giving away easy chances. It is very important to stay calm," said midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

Three times, at least, Brighton had the opportunity to turn the situation around with golden chances in the penalty box. However, defender Jack Hinshelwood, midfielder Carlos Baleba, and winger Yankuba Minteh were less clinical. They failed to direct the ball into the goal guarded by Stefan Ortega.

In previous seasons, visiting teams would have been grateful to return home with a point from the Etihad Stadium. Many came without the intention of winning. That mentality was not felt this time around, although Brighton have always failed to return home with points from the stadium since 1982.

Brighton Head Coach Fabian Hurzeler even expressed his disappointment with the final result. "We deserved to win. We had some big chances, especially in the second half. I'm happy with the performance of the team, but disappointed with the result," said the youngest coach in the Premier League.

Guardiola seems to be coming to terms with his terrible season. He no longer scratches his face on the touchline or looks frustrated at press conferences. The manager lives by the principle that even the best chefs have bad days. This season is that bad day.

Guardiola did not blame the players after failing to win again. Instead he gave praise to the young players, including Khusanov who scored the own goal. "This is football. We have to accept it. We have conceded too many goals this season," he said.

As Guardiola explained, City's biggest problem this season is the unusual amount of goals they have conceded. Their defense is very porous. City have already conceded 40 goals in the league. That is the same number as Manchester United who are in 15th place.

City have already broken the record for most goals conceded in the Guardiola era, dating back to 2016, although it is still only matchday 29. They have never conceded more than 39 goals in a full season. In fact, only in Guardiola's first season, City conceded more than 35 goals.

The foundation and structure of the defense that was built over the years has collapsed this season. The problem is the main reason City is stuck in fifth place in the standings. When asked about the cause of the problems in the back line, Guardiola replied, "Something is missing."

City have indeed lost a lot this season, especially due to injuries. They were unable to play the last Ballon d'Or winner, Rodri, almost from the start of the season. Players in the back line, such as Manuel Akanji and John Stones, were also unable to appear in the match.

City's goalkeepers have also been in flux. First-choice goalkeeper Ederson has only played 19 times in the league due to repeated minor injuries. He has often been replaced by Ortega, including against Brighton. The quality of the two goalkeepers is quite far apart.

However, it seems unfair to other teams if we only look at the injured players. Even without many of those players, City's squad is still very solid. The total market value of City's four full-backs in the match against Brighton alone reached more than 200 million euros. That value still exceeds all of Brighton's defenders (156.8 million euros).

Losing players is one factor. But the biggest factor weighing on City is confidence. They have lost their winning mentality as a result of repeated poor form and inconsistent form. The problem is, Haaland and company have fallen from such a high. It must hurt even more.

Guardiola's team needs time to recover. The problem is, when will they recover if they continue to suffer bad results? They must recover quickly if they do not want to lose their chance to qualify for next season's Champions League.

The big question mark is on Guardiola, the captain of City's struggling ship. Asked about his confidence in reaching the top four, he replied emphatically: "I am always confident. I am good at that. I have doubts sometimes, but I always find the positives to take." (AP/REUTERS)