The sight of Rodri parading the Ballon d'Or at the Etihad Stadium before kick-off reminded us of what they are missing. But it was nothing compared to what followed. Tottenham have imposed a brutal punishment.
The Manchester City kingpin could only watch as Ange Postecoglou's side ran riot in the part of the pitch he normally dominates; an area that has become a vacuum in his absence. The vulnerability was evident even before City's results started to deteriorate. But until now it had come to light this way.
That was evident in the way James Maddison, untracked, accelerated into a gap in City's defense for the first goal. Seven minutes later he repeated the trick, but this time he was given the freedom to use a pass from Heung-Min Son instead of a cross from Dejan Kulusevski.
Tottenham's third goal will look even more painful to Pep Guardiola as he gathers the courage to rewatch the match, starting, as was the case, with Kulusevski charging through clouds of powder in his own half, and ending with Pedro Porro surrounded by nothing other than grass as he hit home his finish.
“What are we looking at?” Sky Sports' Gary Neville asked on co-commentary. But somehow things got worse for City, Tottenham's fourth scored by Brennan Johnson from Timo Werner's cross, condemning them to their heaviest home defeat under Guardiola.
It was in fact the worst home defeat of Guardiola's career.
The sight of Werner flying past a heavy-legged Kyle Walker in the build-up to that fourth goal was a reminder that Rodri's absence isn't City's only problem at the moment. “This is more than just Rodri,” Marcel said. But its significance can hardly be overestimated.
This was compounded on this occasion by an injury to Mateo Kovacic, leaving a 20-year-old full-back in Rico Lewis and a 34-year-old Ilkay Gundogan as their deepest-lying midfielders.
“They are all great players, but who wants to do the dirty work in that midfield?” Jamie Redknapp asked at half-time.
The pair narrowly missed a pass, as did Bernardo Silva, the third member of Guardiola's midfield. But none of them came close to their counterparts without the ball. Together they committed more fouls than tackles. Spurs ran through it – and not just for the goals. Postecoglou's team was excellent from start to finish.
Of course, City has been here before.
They have recovered bigger deficits than the current five-point lead over Liverpool. And it will remain that way if Arne Slot's side beat Southampton on Sunday, as City have recovered from ten points back to beat the Reds under Jurgen Klopp in 2018/19.
But this time it feels different. Manchester City have gone through the first two months of the season without defeat, but warning signs have now become deafening alarm bells. The dip has become a crisis that even the news of a new contract for Guardiola could not alleviate.
“City lose the occasional game here but we rarely see them being outplayed in any department and that is what we are looking at,” Neville added.
“They look pretty short, as short as I've seen them since Pep Guardiola's first season. I haven't seen them as bad as this.”
The numbers certainly support this claim. Manchester City have conceded seventeen goals in twelve games this season. That is the same number as Crystal Palace, who are in 18th place, and represents an average of almost 40 percent higher than even that first trophyless season under Guardiola.
It is a consequence of giving up higher quality opportunities. Without Rodri, whose absence has become a psychological as well as a technical and tactical problem, they are far too easy to open up. No Premier League team has given up more shots after fast breaks this season. They are fortunate that more parties have not capitalized.
On the other hand, they also have problems. Erling Haaland is still crazy productive. He is scoring at a higher rate than last season. But the problem is that on off days like this, when he missed a string of inviting first-half chances, no one else steps up.
The Norwegian has gone from around 30 percent of his goals in the last two seasons to more than 50 percent this season. Manchester City's second highest goalscorers in the Premier League this season are Josko Gvardiol and Kovacic, with just three each.
City's supporting strikers have provided a reliable stream of goals in recent seasons. This time Phil Foden, Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Jack Grealish have just one between them. It is not sustainable, especially now that the fitness of 33-year-old Kevin De Bruyne is declining and Julian Alvarez has long since passed away.
And yet even their goalscoring problems come back, at least in part, to Rodri's absence. He wouldn't have won the Ballon d'Or just for giving City defensive balance. This is a player who scored nine goals last season, eight of which came in the Premier League. He was missed both offensively and defensively.
Manchester City will undoubtedly turn to the transfer market in January to find a solution. But there are still seven Premier League games to play before the window even opens, starting with a trip to Anfield to face league leaders Liverpool next Sunday.
Based on this evidence, things may get worse before they get better.
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