It's hard to imagine at this stage now Manchester City are in the semi-finals of two competitions, are favourites to clinch the Premier League again and haven't tasted defeat in 15 matches but 2023 didn't start all too well.
It's hardly surprising in hindsight given so many players took time to get back to their best following an emotionally and physically draining World Cup, but City struggled to find any sort of rhythm or consistency once domestic football resumed. Just when it seemed a run was about to get going, there would be a frustrating draw or an unexpected defeat. It's only in the current unbeaten run, which began on February 12, that the Blues have managed to win more than three games in a row.
Plenty of players came in for criticism during that fallow period but none more so than Ederson, who surprisingly found plenty of supporters turning against him. It wasn't just the odd contrarian deliberately trying to stand out with their unique opinions, either, as a sizeable portion of supporters began to issue concerns with the goalkeeper.
