Do inexperienced Man City still have the mentality of champions?

Guardiola didn’t want to read too much into the result nearly 48 hours later when he spoke before Tuesday’s trip to Fulham, but he certainly wasn’t hailing it as a positive shift in their mentality. 

"It depends on Phil putting the ball in the net," he said in a dreary manner suggesting he was still not happy with how his team managed the second half. "I don't know that one win can define the mentality of the team. I don't believe in these kind of things."

Foden gave a more lengthy assessment of what happened, outlining what City did right and wrong: "We were in full control. They changed it around in the second half, changed the system and we couldn't seem to get going. We really struggled, to be honest. It was a frustrating half but when we had a short break, the manager got us together to adapt to their formation and we started playing again."

The England midfielder, who has six goals and three assists in all competitions this season, also warned his City team-mates that they cannot afford to play like they did in the second half on many more occasions.

"We have to work on things and get things better because when the opponents get better in the later stages of the season, we can't afford to come out like this because we're going to lose the league," Foden added. "We have to put things right and get better and just work hard on the training pitch.”

Saturday marked the sixth time this season where City have surrendered a lead. They conceded twice in the final half-hour at Brighton to turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 defeat before letting in a 90th-minute equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli against Arsenal to draw 1-1. They were subsequently dominant in their Champions League outing against Monaco but twice lost their advantage, letting in their second equaliser in the 90th minute, while they conceded an equaliser against Bournemouth, when Gianluigi Donnarumma vented his fury for contact in the area, before eventually securing victory.

They also had poor second halves against both Villarreal and Borussia Dortmund in Europe, even though the scorelines - 2-0 and 4-1, respectively - suggested that they won both games comfortably.

City's struggles to build on the momentum of a good start is becoming more pressing when they are no longer dominating every opponent, as evidenced by their defeats against Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle in which they conceded the first goal.

City went into the game against Leeds on the back of consecutive defeats to Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen, and Foden admitted that harmed their confidence: "Obviously, from our own performance, it wasn't good enough from start to finish. But sometimes it's like that when you come off the back of two defeats. For whatever reason, it's so much more difficult to get the three points when you come off the back of defeats."

"But today wasn't about the way we played or how we performed," he continued. "It was just for us about getting the win because we just wanted to feel how we used to feel with the three points."

That felt like an admission that something in City’s mentality has changed in the last year or so.

Guardiola's side no longer go into every game believing that they are going to win, nor do they seem capable of ensuring they are going to win even when they get off to a good start. Perhaps that should not be surprising given the turnover in the squad, with seven key members of the squad that won the treble in 2023 and secured a record-breaking fourth Premier League title a year later have since left. 

This is not say that City were wrong to move on from those players, several of whom were no longer at their physical peak as they approached their mid-30s, such as Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Ederson. Julian Alvarez, meanwhile, asked to leave so as to play more, while Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji were struggling with their fitness and form before being loaned out. 

The insatiable winning mentality of the departed players, above all De Bruyne and Gundogan, has, however, proven very difficult to replace.

Ten players have arrived since the summer of 2024, but Donnarumma is the only one to have previously won a European league title. Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders, with one domestic cup each from their times in Portugal and Italy, respectively, are the next-most garlanded. 

Of the starting XI against Leeds, only Haaland, Foden, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias have lifted more than one league title with City. The absence of Rodri, who is set to miss the trip to Fulham due to an injury layoff which is approaching two months in duration, continues to weigh heavily. 

Guardiola’s lack of belief in his second string players could be seen in how he hauled three players off at half-time against Leverkusen after initially making 10 changes to the team that had lost to Newcastle. He admitted it was "too many" and he changed them all back against Leeds, apart from Gonzalez and Reijnders.

Guardiola was scathing about the performance of his squad players against Leverkusen, saying they "didn’t try", but several of his first-choice players, including members of the 2024 title-winning side such as Matheus Nunes and Josko Gvardiol, seemed to switch off against Leeds too.

More evidence that Guardiola is not happy with his squad was provided with reports that City are seriously considering triggering Antoine Semenyo’s £65 million ($86m) buy-out clause in January. No one can doubt the quality of the Bournemouth winger, and the fee is very reasonable for the third-most productive player in the league this season behind Haaland and Brentford striker Igor Thiago.

If the deal gets done, then City will have spent £422m ($558m) on new players in the last 13 months. They are seeing, however, that money does not necessarily buy you the insatiable mentality you need to finish top in a title race, particularly against an Arsenal side that has lost just one game in all competitions this season. Semenyo would make City a more formidable force going forward and ease the burden on Haaland and Foden, but it will take something else to take City's mindset to the next level.