Go for the kill, get angry… and two players Pep Guardiola could target in January: Five ways shambolic City can stop the rot, writes JACK GAUGHAN

Manchester City were cruising at the Etihad on Sunday — or cruising as comfortably as a team that had lost seven of their last 10 matches could.

Much of the ball, a goal up and Manchester United not threatening in behind as much as expected.

But they came out after half time looking to contain rather than press home an advantage. One attempt on goal from inside Andre Onana’s box in the second half doesn’t suggest a team that smelt blood.

City were tentative in possession, a first instinct to look backwards rather than forwards. 

That is what comes from a wretched run of form and a severe hit to confidence. Only scratching a win or two from somewhere can change this.

Once again the Premier League champions stood idly by as victory slipped through their fingers

Amad Diallo’s late winner in the Manchester derby continued the club’s worst-ever run since Guardiola took the reins

CUT OUT THE INDIVIDUAL MISTAKES

The fear over starting Matheus Nunes at left back would have been how he dealt with Amad Diallo, not his use of possession. 

The lapse in concentration in under-hitting a back-pass to Ederson is inexcusable from a midfielder.

Gvardiol and Ederson were also the ones culpable for Diallo’s winner, but the players believe there is a collective, underlying issue.

‘It’s not just the pass from Matheus to the keeper,’ said Bernardo Silva. ‘It’s everything, how the ball ends up from Ruben (Dias) to Matheus and Kyle (Walker), that we have to do better. Be more experienced, smarter.’

Matheus Nunes looked out of his depth filling in as a makeshift left back amid the club’s injury crisis

Bernardo Silva insisted individual errors throughout the team cost them the game at the Etihad

GET FRESH LEGS

It is obvious Pep Guardiola needs fresh impetus in this team, which has looked old all season. 

At 28 years and 137 days, the average age of City’s starting XI was the oldest in this fixture since April 2017.

Bruno Guimaraes at Newcastle and Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi are on City’s list to bolster the midfield and they do need more legs there. 

The Premier League champions are expected to do business next month.

Beyond Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, Guardiola could only call on a half-fit Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish from the bench. 

It’s not a dearth of quality but a dearth of different alternatives to fix specific in-game problems.

City will need to invest in the transfer market in January to bolster their depleted ranks

Bruno Guimaraes and former Liverpool target Martin Zubimendi(pictured) would provide some much-needed variety in midfield options

GET ANGRY 

A helplessness washed over what looked like 11 very lonely City players at full time.

Erling Haaland and Josko Gvardiol had a quick conflab in the centre circle, once the majority of the squad had already headed down the tunnel. 

Along with Phil Foden and Ruben Dias, the pair lingered on the pitch applauding the fans who had booed on the whistle.

They looked like players in mourning who could not bring themselves to leave the scene of a tragedy. 

When Nunes made his error, a few team-mates went over to console him and that feels like where City are at. 

There is no public barracking, just grim acceptance of their plight.

Guardiola’s side must harness their ongoing struggles as a way to fuel a resurgence

LEARN FROM THE PAST

The parallels with the 2019-20 campaign, when City floundered behind Liverpool, continue apace. 

This was the first time Guardiola’s side have lost against United in the first half of a season since that year. They pummeled Arsenal 3-0 the next week but the prospect of similar at Aston Villa on Saturday is implausible at best.

Worryingly for City, they always turn up for the first meeting of the campaign with their rivals. 

In 2020, Guardiola’s side finished 18 points behind Jurgen Klopp’s title winners. 

Who would bet against the same again or worse? They need to learn from the past.