Outside of Haaland, Foden, Gvardiol, and Dias all of their core pieces are either 1. old or 2. not of the level they need to be. Even Rodri is 28. The squad has serious structural issues.
Let's go section by section.
Defenders:
Walker - 34
Stones - 30
Ake - 29
Akanji - 29
MF:
KdB - 33
Silva - 30
Gundogan - 34
Kovacic - 30
Grealish - 29
Not old but not good:
Doku - not good enough
Nunes - not good enough
Savio - jury is out
Lewis - young but definitely has been a liability this season
Idk what that needs if not a full rebuild. It is a very old squad. City have been the third oldest side in the PL this season, behind Everton and West Ham. And it's showing. Their transfer business has been very, very poor in the last few years - largely influenced by Pep being hyper-ideological about his present system and so buying players to fit it who have ended up generally looking pretty useless.
Their real sources of creativity (De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva) are north of 30, but their transfers in that area have more been utility players to fit the system than real dynamic players (cough Doku cough). Their defense is totally lost, but Pep has decided that Gvardiol is more useful going forward and so has moulded him in that direction, resulting in a "defender" who is totally wayward when a ball rolls softly towards his own line.
The system rigidity has been boggling to the mind. It very clearly isn't working (and no, it's not just because Rodri isn't there!!!) and yet Pep continues to do the same shit week-in week-out! How in god's name is Kyle Walker still starting? How do you not catch on to the fact that maybe - if an old and battered KdB can't provide creatively - you should try and loosen your system and let Grealish play more freely?
It's an old team. It's not just that they've put on a lot of miles, they're just aging and have not been replaced. And there aren't replacements in the wings. And Pep's endorsed signings for his system are not working. How can we be surprised that a 4-1-4-1 in which the Ghost of Gundogan is the holder isn't working? And why won't Pep admit that it's not?
