Manchester City has already slipped once in Premier League, losing 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in their debut match at Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola's team has achieved the impossible these past years, winning six of the last eight Premier League titles, four in a row between 2021 and 2024, but after a trophy-less season, things will not change overnight. And some pundits believe the "winning era" for Manchester City has ended.
That's the view of former Arsenal star Perry Groves on TalkSport, who said that it's the end of a cycle because the club "has no aura".
"Football is cyclical, right? This is the end of Man City's cycle, I know their average age was 24 [on Saturday]. If you look at the team they put out, there's no aura about that team. There's no presence or stature, if you look at the treble-winning side, when you had Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Mahrez as well, they're all players that imposed themselves on the game."
"I'm looking at this Man City side, and I know they¡re in transition, they haven¡t got that aura anymore. And you know you're in trouble when your away team has more shots than you." Groves ends saying that, due to the age of the team, he doesn't think they're in the race for the title.