Jamie Redknapp hits out at Man City star’s ‘basic’ defending

Jamie Redknapp has criticized a Manchester City star for their 'basic' defending during the first half of his side's match against Tottenham.

City were shocked in the first half of the match and went into half-time 2–0 down after a brace from James Maddison continued City's struggles, putting them at risk of losing a fifth game in a row.

The first goal told of their troubles, with Ilkay Gundogan failing to track Maddison and passing him to John Stones, who was already occupied and unable to reach the midfielder before he could score.

That was just the first goal of the match, with the absence of Ballon d'Or winner Rodri still significant as he sits out the season with an ACL injury.

Meteo Kovacic was the replacement, but he is also absent now and will be out for about a month. Rico Lewis and Ilkay Gundogan were the favored solution in midfield against Tottenham, but that failed spectacularly.

And Redknapp took aim at Gundogan on Sky Sports at half-time, putting heavy pressure on his defensive effort.

“Good game from Spurs, they couldn't get the ball for 13 minutes,” Redknapp said. 'Kulusevski is too strong, excellent ball. Can you reach it with your left foot?

“It doesn't matter if there is no Rodri, what Gundogan is doing here is very basic, it is so wrong. You've got to match that run. If he passes it on, it will be too late. You have to go. That's part of being a central midfielder.'

Gundogan returned to City from Barcelona in the summer, having left the club a year earlier after captaining them to their Treble win in the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

But things have not gone so smoothly this season, with City five points behind Liverpool – a lead that could have increased to eight on Sunday.

Rodri's absence was highlighted as the midfielder suffered a cruciate ligament injury in September and his season was already over. With him in their side, City have lost 2.6 percent of their games since February 2023, compared to the 33.3 percent lost without him before the match against Tottenham.

Pedro Porro added a third in the second half to add to City's misery – and Brennan Johnson also scored – continuing after the international break despite Pep Guardiola signing a new contract.

The result means City will have lost their last five games in all competitions – a feat Pep Guardiola has never suffered before – representing something of a crisis for the club.