Jamie Redknapp has slammed a Manchester City star for their ‘basic’ defending during the first half of his side’s game against Tottenham.
CIty were shell-shocked in the first half of the game, going into the break 2-0 down after a brace from James Maddison continued City’s struggles and put them at risk of losing a fifth game in a row.
The first goal was telling of their issues, with Ilkay Gundogan failing to track Maddison, trying to pass him onto John Stones, who was already occupied and unable to get to the midfielder before he could score.
That was only the first goal of the game, with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri’s absence still telling as he sits out the season with an ACL injury.
Meteo Kovacic has been deputising, but he too is now absent and will be out for around a month. Rico Lewis and Ilkay Gundogan was the midfield solution of choice against Tottenham, but that backfired in spectacular fashion.
And Redknapp took aim at Gundogan on Sky Sports during the half time break, slamming his defensive effort.
Jamie Redknapp took aim at Ilkay Gundogan for his defending for Tottenham’s first goal
James Maddison broke free from the midfielder to net the opening goal of the game
Redknapp described Gundogan’s efforts as ‘basic’ and ‘wrong’ as he disappointed
Gundogan struggled throughout the game and has struggled to hit heights of his first spell with the club
‘Good play by Spurs, for 13 minutes they couldn’t get the ball,’ Redknapp said. ‘Kulusevski is too strong, exquisite ball. Can you get the left foot on it?
‘It doesn’t matter if there’s no Rodri, what Gundogan does here is really basic, it’s so wrong, You have to match that run. When he passes him on it is too late. You have to go. That is part of being a central midfield player.’
Gundogan rejoined City in the summer from Barcelona having left the club a year prior on the back of captaining them to their Treble win of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
But things haven’t gone as swimmingly this season, with City five points behind Liverpool – a gap that could have stretched to eight by Sunday.
Rodri’s absence has been highlighted, with the midfielder suffering an ACL injury in September and his season already over. With him in their side, City have lost 2.6 per cent of games since February 2023 compared to the 33.3 per cent lost without him before the Tottenham game.
Pedro Porro added a third in the second half to add to City’s misery, which has continued after the international break despite Pep Guardiola penning a new contract.
The pending result means City will have lost their last five games in all competitions – a feat Pep Guardiola has never suffered before – which represents a crisis of sorts for the club.
