WHAT NEVILLE SAID
Speaking on after the full-time whistle of City's humbling defeat to Tottenham, Neville said: "We've seen City lose the odd game here, but we've very rarely seen them outplayed in every department, but that's what we're watching,' the pundit said. 'They look well short. As short as I've seen them since Pep's first season.
"I've not seen them as bad as this, how they've been in the last few weeks. He will have wanted that international break to come, thinking it would be a reset moment. But now here, it further entrenches the opinion this is a City side currently in decline.
"It seems madness, when you think about what they've achieved. They're easy to play against and teams are encouraged when playing them. The vulnerabilities are clear for everyone to see."
Speaking about the absence of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri through a long-term injury, Neville added: "This is more than just Rodri, far more,' he said. 'When you're on the decline – and I hate to use the word decline, but it does feel like it – it's a group of players with a number of things [going wrong].
"The idea of growing slightly old together, the idea of playing the volume of games together, the physical and mental demands of that, and the third thing is how many times you can keep going. It's a group of players who have run a million miles. They've been sensational. But they've become a little bit punch-drunk. Leggy, lacking in energy, they've lost players and a couple of vital players out through injury.
"It's a big game next week, Liverpool vs City, and there's only a few points in it, there's a long way to go, but it feels like today, if Man City were to win the title this season, I think it would be Pep's greatest Premier League."
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THE BIGGER PICTURE
It is hard to disagree with the former England right-back. City's miserable run, which stretch back to the end of October, features two losses to Tottenham, shock defeats away to Bournemouth and Brighton, and a chastening loss to now-United manager Ruben Amorim's Sporting CP. While lack of key personnel can be blamed to an extent, there appears to be something fundamentally wrong.
It speaks volumes that in all five of these defeats, City have had more shots and more possession than their less illustrious opponents. However, with their defence looking far from reassured in recent games, they have punished in turn by either lightning counter-attacks or more clinical finishing than their own, despite the presence of Erling Haaland.
