Pep Guardiola said that a new striker this season would not have helped Manchester City beat Southampton.
The Blues made it a priority to sign a marquee centre-forward in the transfer window but interest to varying degrees in Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo never amounted to a deal. With Gabriel Jesus preferring to play wide and Sergio Aguero leaving on a free transfer, City went into this season with two fewer strikers than previously.
Raheem Sterling reprised his role up front against Southampton with Ferran Torres rested but the England international was starved of service as Southampton limited the home team to just one shot on target - that coming in the 90th minute.
Guardiola had anticipated a question about the absence of a striker, and put his case for why the team failed to score against a well-disciplined Saints side.
"Today we didn't win not because we didn't have a centre-forward, we didn't win because our process to make the buildup or give better balls for players up front were not good," he said. "When they are good, they can run, arrive in other positions."
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Ruben Dias tops key rankings to show how important he is to Man City
Manchester City might have failed to climb to the top of the Premier League table after a frustrating 0-0 draw with Southampton, but one of their star performers did manage to put himself on top of a different pile.
Ruben Dias moved to the top of the passing charts thanks to the 75 he completed against the Saints.
With 379 passes finding the intended target in five games this season, no other player at City or elsewhere in the Premier League is more accurate with the ball at their feet than the 24-year-old.
We thought we'd put together a power ranking to compare the division's best passers so far this season.
The eight exciting Man City youngsters in line for a Carabao Cup chance vs Wycombe
Manchester City fans will get a glimpse of the future when the Blues face Wycombe in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night.
Manager Pep Guardiola has said that he has no choice but to throw some of his talented youngsters into the fray for the third round game against the League One side.
Ilkay Gundogan added to a growing injury list at the weekend, with Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Rodri and Aleks Zinchenko already out.
And with the Blues down to the bare bones in terms of senior central defenders and defensive midfielders, it is unlikely that Ruben Dias and Fernandinho will be risked, with a crunch game at Chelsea just four days away.
Sam Edozie opens up on Man City development under Pep Guardiola and Wembley debut
Manchester City's defeat to Leicester City in the Community Shield is long forgotten with their season firmly up and running, but the occasion will forever be remembered by some players.
"Wow", is the first word out of young winger Sam Edozie's mouth as he tries to sum up the feeling of playing there more than a month after the event.
A pacy, tricky forward signed from Millwall in 2019, Edozie had impressed in the Under-18s and Under-23s before being thrust into the first-team spotlight this summer by Pep Guardiola and handed a start at Wembley. From being used to playing in front of a handful of people or behind closed doors, the 18-year-old was suddenly running out in front of over 45,000 people at the home of football that had recently hosted the final of the European Championship.
Statistical model makes Premier League title predictions for Man City
Manchester City are being tipped to win the Premier League title this season, despite an indifferent start to the campaign.
That is according to the latest CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post, who make their predictions through a statistical model based on clubs' performances in the last 365 days, players’ experience and transfer fee investments to assemble their squads.
City, who were held to a goalless draw by Southampton at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, have experienced an indifferent start to the campaign, winning three, drawing one and losing one of their first five matches, meaning they are currently three points off the top of the table.
Lack of Golden Boy nominations is worrying for Man City
The 40-man shortlist for the 2021 Golden Boy award has been released, but there was a glaring omission: not a single Manchester City player was included.
The prestigious award, voted for by journalists from across Europe, is given to the best under-21 player from Europe's top leagues. Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland won the award in 2020, with other past winners including Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and City's own Raheem Sterling - although that was during his Liverpool days. The only time a City player has won the award was Mario Balotelli in 2010. At 21 years old, Phil Foden is now too old to be nominated, although he did finish seventh in the 2020 edition.
The problem facing Raheem Sterling at Man City
Manchester City endured a tough time at the Etihad Stadium this weekend, being held to a 0-0 draw against Southampton.
Pep Guardiola made five changes to the team that thumped RB Leipzig 6-3 in midweek, with one key change seeing Raheem Sterling installed as the central striker in his 4-3-3 system ahead of Ferran Torres.
He was joined by £100m man Jack Grealish in his usual left-wing role, while Gabriel Jesus was once again fielded on the right-wing position that he has seemingly made his own this season.
City managed to scrape together just one shot on target in the 95 minutes of action on the day, substitute Phil Foden's header in added time that led to Sterling's poacher effort being ruled out for offside.
The Manchester City academy youngsters who could feature against Wycombe in Carabao Cup
Manchester City kick off their Carabao Cup campaign against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday, with Pep Guardiola set to field an inexperienced side with several youngsters from the academy.
City's youth system is fast becoming the envy of English football following an unbeaten start to the Premier League 2 campaign. City's under-23 side have scored four goals in each of their last four league fixtures, including wins against Manchester United and Chelsea.
With a core of players that grew up in Greater Manchester, City are leading the way in promoting homegrown quality. The jewel in the crown of City's academy, Phil Foden, looks ever more likely to be succeeded by a generation with promising talents such as Cole Palmer and Liam Delap, who are attracting attention from their national teams.
Palmer, who marked his England under-21 debut with a goal, looks set to continue his strong start to the season against Wycombe, along with several other youngsters, as several first-team players will miss the fixture through injury.
Join MEN Sport as we forecast the academy stars who could feature in the Carabao Cup.
Man City suffer Ilkay Gundogan injury blow
lkay Gundogan has added to Manchester City’s growing injury crisis ahead of a crucial week of big games.
And manager Pep Guardiola said the list of crocked players is so bad that he has “no choice” but to play several of his talented academy products when the Blues begin their Carabao Cup defence against Wycombe on Tuesday.
Guardiola hinted that Germany midfielder Gundogan picked up a problem in Saturday’s goalless draw with Southampton, when City were already without centre backs John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, defensive midfielder Rodri, left-back Aleks Zinchenko and reserve keeper Zack Steffen.
Sterling 'predisposed' to Barcelona move and more Man City transfer rumours
Raheem Sterling appears set to leave Manchester City to join Barcelona on loan in January, according to reports.
On Saturday, Sterling made his first start in the Premier League since City's 1-0 defeat to Tottenham on the opening day but was unable to inspire the Blues to a win.
Southampton might count themselves unlucky to not have been awarded a penalty after referee Jon Moss overturned his original decision to award a spot-kick once he reviewed the footage on the VAR monitor.
Sterling was unfortunate to not have grabbed the winning goal in the final stages after his effort was ruled out as offside.
Kayky introduces himself to fans as he gets Man City career started
Kayky thanked his new Manchester City teammates for helping him to settle in his first week at the club.
The Brazilian teenager, 18, was signed by the Blue s from Fluminense for an initial £9m and while he was originally set to arrive in January 2022 the two clubs came to an agreement for him to make the switch earlier. Having arrived at the Etihad this wee k, the youngster enjoyed his first day of training with the senior squad on Friday and spoke with Pep Guardiola about how he is adjusting to his new life.
City's Brazilian contingent - Ederson, Gabriel Jesus and captain Fernandinho all play for the national team - have all done their bit to welcome the new arrival, but Kayky also had fond words for the rest of the group as he reflected on his first few days as a Blue.
Dias masterclass makes light of other nagging Man City issues
One of the most keenly anticipated contests among the Manchester City squad is in danger of not getting going.
John Stones and Aymeric Laporte were expected to duke it out for the right to play alongside Ruben Dias in the defence, with the Spaniard looking to use a strong showing with Spain at the Euros to earn his place back in the team after being dislodged by the incredible Stones revival of last season.
Instead, the England defender is yet to play a single minute for his club this season and Nathan Ake has started the same number of games as Laporte with the recent international break costing City two centre-backs for the last two fixtures.