The story of English football club Manchester City this season is one of both rapid success and fallibility. City were treble winners just two years ago — taking home the English Premier League title, UEFA Champions League title, and FA Cup title all in the same season. They also won the Premier League four seasons in a row, which is the longest streak in the competition’s history. However, they have fallen from grace and are shaping up to lose their crown as the 2024–25 season passes its midway point.
Manchester City — not to be confused with red rivals Manchester United — have reigned supreme over English football for more than a decade, having won six of the last 10 Premier League titles. They have been the face of success since their first Premier League title in 2011–12, largely thanks to the United Arab Emirates-based Abu Dhabi United Group’s purchase of City in 2008, which was able to invest millions and equip City with the ability to bring world-class players into their ranks.
City’s recent domination of football on both domestic and international stages has been met with skepticism, with many critics having attributed “oil money” to the club’s many wins. Currently, City is under a formal court investigation that began in November 2024 for 115 counts of breaching financial fair play rules between 2009 and 2018. These charges have led to further criticism in the football community, fanning the flames that City paid their way to the top. When these court proceedings began, City’s play began to sharply decline.
At the start of the 2024–25 season, City were extremely well-poised to dominate English football once again. Their decorated Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland, began the season scoring 10 goals within the first five games of the season. This instantaneous success led many to believe that Haaland would lead Manchester City to another decorated season and earn himself a third Golden Boot for the most goals scored in a Premier League season. These hopes were quickly dashed as both Haaland and City hit a roadblock entering November.
City’s first loss of the season came against Tottenham Hotspur FC in the English Football League cup competition, knocking City out of the race 2–1 in the round of 16. City and their esteemed manager Pep Guardiola, who won six of City’s eight Premier League titles, shrugged off the loss and saw it as a way to focus on their main competitions: the Premier League and Champions League. Guardiola, a Spaniard who has coached City since 2016, is widely regarded as one of the best managers of the 21st century, having won Bundesliga and La Liga titles with Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona, respectively, along with other major international competitions. Many onlookers agreed that a single loss meant nothing when considering Guardiola’s and City’s records and that City was simply more concerned about the larger competitions.
After losing to Tottenham, City went on a spell of six more games without a win across all competitions, the worst run of form in Guardiola’s career. The turmoil of City’s season reached a low point when English club AFC Bournemouth defeated City for the first time in their history. City’s winless streak was broken by a 3–0 victory over underdogs Nottingham Forest FC. Forest are currently sitting 3rd in the Premier League table and are, for the second time ever, poised to have a chance at winning the Premier League. This victory could’ve been a catalyst to set their season back on track, but the success was extremely short-lived as they went winless in their next five games. Undoubtedly, City have hit some of their worst form in nearly 20 years, but what is the cause for such a sudden and dismal drop in performance?
What seems to be the biggest singular fall in the series of dominoes that is City’s failures is the absence of their star players and crippling injuries throughout the lineup. Rodri — the Spanish Ballon D’Or-winning defensive midfielder — tore his ACL during City’s 2–2 draw against Arsenal FC in October. Rodri’s creativity in the midfield was the glue holding City’s spectacular form together, and without him, it seems as though the club entered a midfield crisis. City’s other particularly gifted midfielder, Belgian national Kevin DeBruyne, has also suffered a bout of injuries this season, making his absence more common than his appearance for the club.
City has suffered a slew of other injuries, especially in their defense, resulting in players playing in unfamiliar positions, academy players joining the first team reserves, and the squad’s confidence seemingly faltering. City recently attempted to address these issues by signing multiple new defenders, but after fielding what seemed to be a solid starting team, City was thrashed by rivals Arsenal FC on Sunday, 5–1. City’s lapse in defensive confidence can be easily exploited by a team with strong pace and high midfield pressing as soon as they gain possession, which is exactly what Arsenal was equipped to do and effectively did.
In the Champions League, City’s poor performance in the table phase resulted in a playoff match-up against 11th place La Liga’s Real Madrid CF, the current title holders. City has to score more combined goals than Real Madrid in their two contests — Feb. 11 in Manchester and Feb. 19 in Madrid — if they wish to advance to the round of 16 and based on Real Madrid’s current form, things are looking grim for the English club.
With the 2024–25 Premier League season past the halfway point and City 15 points behind Liverpool, the current league leaders, a title seems out of the question for City. As the season continues and players are signed, contracts extended, and the ticking of the clock on City’s financial investigations continue, will this season simply end up as an isolated lapse in City’s form, or is it the end of excellence for the Manchester club?
