Kyle Walker is past it, Phil Foden failing to create and Erling Haaland can't score! Six biggest culprits in Man City's five-match losing streak as Pep Guardiola searches for solutions after record-breaking run

"Goodness gracious me," was how Gary Neville reacted while commentating for Sky Sports as he watched Timo Werner fly past the helpless Kyle Walker to set up Brennan Johnson to put the final nail in City's coffin on Saturday. "You don’t see that very often, but we’ve seen it a few times in the last couple of weeks. Vinicius Jr, [Kylian] Mbappe, he’s handled them all, Walker, but he’s struggling at this moment in time."

That's an understatement. Walker has been having a torrid time lately, to the point that his recent form has been compared to the final weeks of Neville's own career, when he decided to retire in the middle of a season, just before his 36th birthday. Walker turned 34 at the end of last season, in which he was one of City's most consistent performers.

He had staged an incredible turnaround within the previous year, battling his way back into Guardiola's starting XI during the treble season, after the coach had called into question Walker's ability to fit into the coach's revised system. The England international started 30 Premier League games in 2023-24, having not started more than 22 in the previous three campaigns, and he was an ever-present in the crunch Champions League and FA Cup ties. He also played every minute in the Three Lions' run to the Euro 2024 final.

It is tempting to conclude that all those minutes have finally caught up with Walker. The hamstring injury he suffered late last season during an England friendly, which prompted a recent outburst from Guardiola, did not help. He has struggled with niggling fitness issues this season, and before the recent game with Bournemouth, the coach said the veteran had trained for just six minutes.

Walker's renaissance at his age, not to mention all the turmoil in his private life, was truly remarkable, but now it feels like that renaissance is over.

Has anyone seen the reigning PFA Player of the Year this season? The man who scooped up every individual award last season has played 10 games this season, but it has often felt like Phil Foden has not been there at all. Last season he scored 19 Premier League goals and set up a further eight, but this term he has contributed to just one goal, the corner from which John Stones headed in the winner at Wolves.

Foden looked in a confident mood when the Tottenham game started, but his bright start faded. He had five attempts on goal, but only hit the target with one in a performance that was in keeping with his other recent ragged displays. At Bournemouth, he had four shots and they all missed the target. He has only located his shooting boots in the Champions League, scoring three times in three starts. He has also been unable to run the play as he did so often last season, lacking the security of having Rodri behind him.

Foden's difficult season came after a very disappointing showing with England at the Euros, when he contributed to zero goals despite starting all seven games. Perhaps a drop-off was inevitable after such a brilliant previous campaign, but City should expect far more from their homegrown star boy than they are currently getting.

Getting the serial-winning Ilkay Gundogan back for free just one year after he had left the club for Barcelona felt like a no-brainer for City, an open goal of a transfer with huge upside and very few downsides. But Gundogan's return has been far from happy.

Against Tottenham, he was forced to fill the void of the absences of Rodri and Mateo Kovacic by anchoring the midfield alongside Rico Lewis, but he looked lost, failing to get to grips with the brilliant James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski.

"Gundogan couldn't get around the pitch today. He couldn't get near anybody and his focus wasn't right," said Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports. "He just couldn't match Spurs' energy in midfield all game."

Saturday's game wasn't the only match in which he has struggled, though. He has started four of the five games in this losing streak, and in the previous meeting with Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, he was hauled off at half-time.

Rather like Walker, Gundogan's decline should not be too surprising given he turned 34 in October, and the fact he retired from international football after the Euros underlined the fact he is in the autumn of his career. His year in Spanish football, which is played at a sauntering rhythm compared to in England, has also given him bad habits. Right now he appears to be unable to cope with the unforgiving pace of Premier League, especially without Rodri by his side.

Last summer, City spent the lowest amount of money not just in the Guardiola era, but in the 16 years of the Abu Dhabi ownership. Indeed, the £20m ($25m) they used to sign Savinho was the least they had spent in a summer transfer window since 2006, when the club was owned by a consortium of English businessman and legendary player Francis Lee. Savinho and Gundogan were the only new arrivals, making it the second-quietist summer in terms of business in Guardiola's era, only beaten by 2021 when Jack Grealish was the sole signing, albeit for a Premier League-record fee of £100m.

The low number of arrivals was surprising because, even though City had won a fourth-consecutive title, a large number of players were on the wrong side of 30. The squad was in urgent need of renewal, but City's recruitment department, led by the highly-admired Txiki Begiristain, did not need the warning signs. While Savinho remains an exciting prospect, he is still a rough diamond, underlined by the fact he is yet to score for his new club.

Bringing back Gundogan also served to increase the average of the squad, and that move looks to have been motivated by romanticism rather than what the squad needed. Their biggest mistake, however, was not replacing Julian Alvarez after selling him to Atletico Madrid, leaving Erling Haaland as their only centre-forward.

The meagre recruitment drive is even harder to understand given that City made £117 ($147m) in sales and are awash with cash amid record levels of revenue.

Guardiola's tactics are not to blame for this slump in results, which he largely puts down to the team's injury crisis. Unlike in his first campaign, there are no calls for him to come up with a 'Plan B' and mix things up. His 'Plan A' has made him one of the most decorated coaches in football history and is beyond reproach. Where the coach can be criticised, however, is for not seeing this crisis coming and not envisaging that players would eventually get injured amid the relentless run of games.

Guardiola famously favours a small squad in order to keep his players as hungry as possible but that always left him vulnerable in the event of a spate of injuries. That is what is happening now. The coach could also be accused of leaning on his loyal band of players such as Walker, Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva and not shaking up the midfield earlier.

Normally such a visionary, it is surprising that Guardiola did not see this situation coming. Prevention is always better than a cure, but now the coach has no option but to find an urgent remedy in the middle of the season because he did not put more pressure on Begiristain and his colleagues to freshen the squad up.

Haaland scored a ridiculous 10 times in his first five Premier League games of the season, including successive hat-tricks. But the goals have dried up since, even though he has continued to create chances. Haaland has struck just two league goals in his last seven appearances, and since mid-September he is the biggest under-performer in the league in terms of expected goals (xG).

The 24-year-old had seven attempts on goal against Tottenham - more than any player in the league this weekend - but failed to find the net. He mis-controlled a pass from Josko Gvardiol which gave Ben Davies the time to block his shot, while he should have done better against Guglielmo Vicario when being teed up by Savinho later. He also struck the top of the crossbar when City were chasing the game.

Haaland had seven attempts against Brighton, too, scoring with one, while drawing a blank with five attempts at Bournemouth. He was also comically wasteful against Southampton, scoring in the fifth minute but then spurning a further seven opportunities.

Guardiola leapt to his striker's defence on Monday, saying: "I would say the reason for our lack of goals is not Erling Haaland. Without Erling, we would be more in trouble! We are lucky to have Erling. Every game, he has three or four chances. One day he scores two or three."

Haaland could well fill his boots in City's next Champions League game against Feyenoord on Tuesday, but his Premier League record must be a concern for Guardiola. The coach has rejigged his whole team in order to profit most from the Norwegian's super-human striking ability, but such an approach relies heavily on Haaland taking most of his chances. At the moment, he is falling well short.