Rúben Dias put Manchester City’s spectacular collapse this season partly down to a lack of “effort and mental discipline” after winning four consecutive Premier League titles.
The Portuguese centre-back was part of all four triumphs—a feat no other team in the 137-year history of the English top flight had ever previously achieved. This season City have set a glut of unwanted records.
The defence marshalled by Dias has already conceded more goals (43) than in any other top-flight campaign during Pep Guardiola’s professional career. City are also on course to record the lowest tally of league goals and points in the best part of a decade.
When quizzed on the problems behind a campaign which his teammate Erling Haaland wrote off as ‘catastrophic’, Dias told : “It was definitely the consequence of many things. One of them was the fact we won four Premier Leagues in a row and nobody has ever done that. Maybe this is the cost—the effort and mental discipline that is essential for the game we play.”
Dias also highlighted the unrelenting torrent of fitness issues which have plagued Guardiola’s team. Reigning Ballon d’Or holder Rodri has been sidelined since September, while most members of the squad have endured a prolonged spell on the sidelines at some point.
