Gary Neville fears Man City player is finished, as second star told he can’t cope with high intensity

Gary Neville was left shocked at one particular moment involving a Manchester City player during the 4-0 defeat to Tottenham, while Jamie Redknapp claimed a different star simply couldn’t deal with Spurs’ high intensity approach.

Tottenham pulled off the result of the season so far on Saturday when thumping reigning champions Man City 4-0 at The Etihad. James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski were simply unplayable, while Spurs’ makeshift defence – in the absence of starting centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven – should not be overlooked.

The defeat is Man City’s fifth in a row in all competitions and speaking on Sky Sports, pundit Gary Neville was stunned at what he witnessed from Kyle Walker.

The veteran right-back is one of the greatest in his position in the Premier League era. His recovery pace is legendary, though the 34-year-old was torched by Timo Werner in the build-up to Spurs’ fourth goal.

Commenting on that passage of play, a shocked Neville said: “Goodness gracious me. You don’t see that very often, but we’ve seen it a few times in the last couple of weeks.

“Vinicius Junior, Mbappe, he’s handled them all, Walker, but he’s struggling at this moment in time.”

Walker’s defending has come under the microscope in recent times, though he’s always been able to rely on his blistering pace to rectify any mistakes. If Walker’s speed is beginning to desert him, his days as an elite-level footballer are numbered.

Spurs have their FOURTH 😳

Timo Werner pounces on a loose Jack Grealish pass and finds Brennan Johnson to complete a DEMOLITION of the champions! pic.twitter.com/IFeaRrJxeJ

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 23, 2024

Ilkay Gundogan “couldn’t get around the pitch”

Fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp also voiced concerns over an ageing Man City star.

Ilkay Gundogan – re-signed from Barcelona over the summer – was the player in question. Per Redknapp, the German was little more than a passenger in the game and unable to cope with Tottenham’s high intensity approach.

“Man City are off it at the moment,” declared Redknapp. “They are short. Things aren’t quite clicking

“In midfield, that balance, Gundogan couldn’t get around the pitch today. He couldn’t get near anybody.

“The focus wasn’t right, the balance wasn’t right with Rico Lewis, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva. They didn’t have enough energy to get around.

“Once Tottenham scored, the confidence came. Maddison started to get on the ball, you could see that his tail was up, that’s the sort of player that he is, and he was excellent.

“But the fact that you can’t score a goal against the two centre-backs of Ben Davies and [Radu] Dragusin, that’s the biggest worry because they didn’t have that clinical edge.”

Redknapp then zeroed in on Gundogan for failing to track his man for Tottenham’s opening goal.

“What Gundogan does here is really basic. It’s so wrong,” Redknapp said on half-time analysis.

“You can see James Maddison’s going to run. You’ve now got to match that run. John Stones has got a problem here, he’s got [Dominic] Solanke, and when he passes him off it’s too late.

“You can’t afford to do that, just go and match the run. I think Gundogan has really struggled in there, he hasn’t been able to deal with the intensity of this match.”

Latest Man City news – Alvarez, Delap

Elsewhere, Redknapp pointed to the sale of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid as a major mistake on City’s behalf.

“I still think Alvarez is a massive blow to this team, where you can bring him on,” stated Redknapp.

“I honestly think, great money, Alvarez in the summer, but I think it was a huge loss not having him, just to bring him on to give you some freshness.

“The age of the team, nine of the 14 were 29+. I think that there may be a little bit of freshening up.

In other news, City are reportedly considering bringing Liam Delap back to the club from Ipswich Town thanks to his impressive form for the newly promoted side this season.

As a striker, Delap could perhaps solve some of the issues caused by the failure to replace Alvarez in the summer.