Ilkay Gundogan is concerned about Man City’s form ahead of the derby (Picture: Sky Sports)
Ilkay Gundogan hopes last night’s shock defeat against Southampton will act as a wake-up call ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby.
The Premier League champions were comprehensively beaten at St Mary’s as Southampton booked their place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup thanks to first-half goals from Sekou Mara and Moussa Djenepo.
Consecutive victories over Chelsea appeared to suggest City were back on track having surprisingly dropped two points at home against Everton on New Year’s Eve but Gundogan is concerned last night’s performance against demonstrated ‘something is missing’ from a side that has been close to flawless over the course of the last 18 months.
‘We’ve won games but I feel like something is missing, something’s off. At the minute there’s a special recipe missing – performances, the desire and hunger is not as in recent years,’ confessed the experienced midfielder.
‘Hopefully it [the Southampton loss] was the right wake up call for us.
‘I would share that it was a lack of attitude today, lack of confidence, lack of commitment you know and it’s tough against a side that’s struggling a little bit in the Premier League right now.
‘But we know Southampton are tough to play against, always very aggressive, they are always able to score and unfortunately we made it too easy for them tonight and in the end we also need to admit with a performance like that we deserve to lose.’
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City are back in action on Saturday when they face a rejuvenated Manchester United in the derby at Old Trafford with Erik ten Hag’s side unrecognisable from the side that were hammered 6-3 earlier this season.
‘Every game is different, different competition but of course if you perform in this way we will not have a chance, in the moment they have and for many years they were looking for to stay in this position,’ said Guardiola in his post match press conference.
‘We know exactly what we have to do to play better and that’s what we are going to try to do.’
Guardiola also defended his decision to rest Haaland and De Bruyne from the start, pointing out that neither player featured in Sunday’s 4-0 FA Cup drubbing of Chelsea.
He added: ‘I leave them on the bench against Chelsea and you didn’t ask me that question because we won.
‘Always I believe when you play four competitions I have the feeling that you have to use everyone you have to be ready.
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The Premier League champions suffered a humbling defeat against Southampton.Â
