Pep Guardiola is the best supervisor of all time however seems to be misplaced, confused and helpless
The empire Pep Guardiola built continues to crumble.
And it seems there is nothing the Spaniard can do to rebuild the rubble left all around him. One night in Paris was all it took to remind the footballing world just how sour Guardiola’s romance with Manchester City has become.
He looked broken – as well as beaten – in the wake of his side’s 4-2 capitulation in the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night. He looked like a man who hasn’t slept for weeks. Someone who goes to bed and stares at a ceiling which has now fallen in on him.
One look at the fixture list might be enough for Guardiola to close his eyes, at least. Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest all lie in wait for the English champions in the coming weeks.
Not to mention Club Brugge, who City have to beat just to secure a place in the top 24 of the Champions League. If this happens, and it’s now a big ‘if’, their reward will be two more games in a play-off Guardiola’s battered squad doesn’t need.

(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Just to make it to the knockout stages of a competition in which City could well get a hiding, should they come up against a European super power. City now resemble a team suffering from neglect and a lack of planning.
PSG were faster, fitter and younger than them in the French capital. Luis Enrique’s side were reminiscent of the one Guardiola used to have two years ago.
The one that swept all before them to win the Champions League as part of a historic Treble. A moment which now feels like a lifetime ago. What Erling Haaland makes of it all is anyone’s guess. He’s just committed the next decade of his career to the club.
City’s response to a crisis which won’t stop, has been to spend more money. Around £150m on three new players, to add some fresh legs and minds to a squad appearing to age by the week.
But even this will come too late to save a season which looks destined to finish without City winning a single trophy. And the burning question remains – will Guardiola have the stomach to continue when the next campaign comes around?
Guardiola’s mind must be scrambled. On top of his team’s almighty fall from grace, he is also going through a divorce. Rarely has he looked so lost, confused and helpless.
Arguably the greatest manager of all time, reduced to something less than even a mere mortal. He will feel humbled and humiliated in equal measure.
Because evidence suggests his stars no longer buy into what he’s selling. A group of players who have become bored of Guardiola’s’ methods and occasional madness.

(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Where is the motivation for Kevin De Bruyne & Co, when there is little left to achieve? The simple answer is that there isn’t any. Club captain Kyle Walker is living proof of this, having jumped ship mid-season to join AC Milan on loan.
How low City could still sink is hard to imagine. But Walker isn’t prepared to hang around to find out. He’s surrendered when the going got tough.
But the most damning fact of all staring Guardiola and his bosses in the face, is that Walker isn’t alone in waving the white flag.