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Former Manchester City winger Riyad Mahrez spoke about what he saw from Pep Guardiola's side last season
Riyad Mahrez was not surprised by Manchester City's slump last season because of what they had already lost when the campaign started.
Pep Guardiola's side had to be content with third place in the Premier League but never really challenged for the title and also suffered their earliest Champions League exit for 13 years.
An injury crisis that robbed them of Rodri for nine months and at least two centre-backs for most of that time saw the champions lose stability and ultimately their crowns and aura as Guardiola endured his first campaign without a trophy (yes, he won the Community Shield) since 2017.
On top of their defensive issues, former City winger Mahrez also saw a lack of output from the forwards that increased the scrutiny on their defence.
“I think it was just the end of a cycle; they lost a lot of players," he told CARRE. “We were more high-stat players. So, logically, it increased the level of the team.
"We were elite every year, almost 20-25 goals and assists per season. And there were a lot of us at that! When you go from that to players who are also super good but perhaps less decisive, it’s more difficult.
"Even when [Erling] Haaland came, we were still there. My last year, I scored 15 goals with 13 assists. And there’s [Phil] Foden, Bernardo [Silva], Sterling, Jack [Grealish], Kevin [De Bruyne], Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan]… we were almost all at more than 20 goals. [Julian] Alvarez also.”
Guardiola lamented his side's lack of product in the final third during the season, wishing he could have Foden back to the levels of the previous season as much as Rodri. Foden's form took a dive, while De Bruyne struggled with injuries and Grealish was never really in the team to provide big numbers.
The main focus lay with Savinho and Jeremy Doku, who both struggled to consistently provide goals and assists from the wings. If City are to improve this season, those two individuals have to be involved with more goals.
Aged 21 and 23 respectively, there is time for both to grow into the team and Guardiola liked improvement he saw in the Club World Cup this summer. Doku was one of City's best players at the tournament, while Savinho also caught the eye.
Foden also looked brighter as he aims to pick his form back up, and the onus will fall mostly on players who are already at the club to start getting the goals and assists to adequately complement Haaland. However, there may also be help from two summer signings.
Rayan Cherki was Lyon's chief playmaker last season while Tijjani Reijnders has spoken about how he consciously focused on improving his goalscoring record before having the best season of his career at AC Milan and earning the move to the Etihad.
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