Riyad Mahrez? Really?
Pep Guardiola could have taken any number of Manchester City players off after a first half in which, yet again, the defending champions went missing. Mahrez was one of the better ones, smacking the underside of the crossbar just before the break with a strike from which he was unlucky not to score.
But he bit the dust for Kevin De Bruyne when few people could understand why the Belgian maestro was on the bench anyway. Perhaps Pep underestimated Tottenham after City came from behind to smash them up 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium last month.
Perhaps that over-confidence seeped into the minds of Guardiola’s serial thrillers. Perhaps his warning about complacency in the City dressing room had been completely justified. Perhaps Guardiola was done defending them.
Maybe the shock loan exit of Joao Cancelo to Bayern Munich - including a £61million clause to make the transfer permanent - in favour of young, hungry Rico Lewis was a statement. A shot across the bows. The start of the break-up of the big names.
Because considering the sky-high bar they’ve set for themselves in recent years, City looked a shadow of their normal, spectacular, sensational selves at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Of course, even now, only a fool would write them off for the title given the quality in the squad and with four months to go. It is also hard to be too critical of a club that has lifted the title in four of the last five seasons and boasts Erling Haaland, a striker with 25 goals before we start writing our Valentine’s Day cards.
But City are spluttering. They are winners of just seven of their last 11 games in all competitions. Southampton, struggling against relegation, put them out of the EFL Cup. Spurs shut them out here with ruthless efficiency, denying time and space to Haaland having learned from their mistakes at the Etihad.
Aston Villa at home come next for Pep and his players. They will need to heed the lessons of this chastening defeat. Fast.
