They need a lift. A shot in the arm. The players. The manager. His staff. City need inspiration. A bellwether. And if it cannot be created from within, then it's up to the departing Txiki to identify and bring it in from outside.
The team is in freefall. Not the club. Not management. But this team. These players. They're in unchartered waters - and they're sinking fast. Defeat at Juventus last night was City's seventh in ten games. None of these players have been through this. Nor has Pep Guardiola as a manager. Yes, he had some struggles at Brescia under the great Carlo Mazzone. But City and current expectations are a galaxy away from those times. This is all very new for Pep - and he's struggling to find solutions.
In Turin on Wednesday night, it was the same story of the past month. City had their chances - credit Michele di Gregorio for that stunning first-half save to deny Erling Haaland - but Juve eventually overran them. When the confidence is low. When things aren't falling for you. That snap. That energy. The alertness. It all drops a gear. And nothing summed up the flagging confidence of City's players more than the manner of Weston McKennie's goal - Juve's second on the night.
The players appear lost. Confused. They're looking at eachother, waiting for someone to grab a game. To spark a moment. Again, create that bit of inspiration. But it just isn't coming. Indeed, it appears that no-one inside the dressing room knows how to generate it.
Ilkay Gundogan was brutally honest in the aftermath. And credit the German, there was no hiding. Indeed, he took City fans right inside the away dressing and the conversations that had been held: “I feel like to ourselves it’s so obvious what is going wrong. It’s about trying to find the switch to turn things around.
“As long as we don’t find the click, it’s going to be tough. Every single player individually has to question themselves on how to do better, how to sacrifice more and how they can contribute to the team so we can collectively get back on our way."
As we say, City's players - whether it be Rico Lewis or Kevin de Bruyne - find themselves in a situation they've never experienced before. And as Gundogan admits, they don't know how to switch things back on.
The veteran midfielder concluded: "It feels like in the crucial moments at the moment we’re always doing the wrong things.”
After Guardiola's celebrated new contract. And before the home meltdown to Tottenham. This column warned that the Catalan would be facing the biggest challenge of his career. It was noted that City were a team in decline. But we'll admit, we saw those issues before Spurs being little more than a blip. This collapse in confidence is unlike anything we've seen. Not at this stage in a season. Not with these players. Nor with this manager.
Which does suggest it can all turn around - and quickly. City, man-for-man, are still the best team in the country. Indeed, on paper, we'd argue they're the best in Europe. And in the manager, they have the greatest. But as Pep will say before every season, what's gone on before counts for nothing. And Guardiola, like his players, is flailing.
So he needs help. He needs Txiki. City's sporting director must be allowed to act in next month's transfer market. Not to rip it all up and start again. There's no need for that. But City need inspiration. A single signing. Maybe two at most. But a bellwether to lift the players. The fans. A Luis Diaz. A Bruno Fernandes. A player to arrive midseason and make not just an immediate impact - but an exciting one.
Bruno Guimaraes, of Newcastle United, has been open about City's summer interest - and his hopes of them trying again. Viktor Gyokeres, Sporting CP's record-goalscoring centre-forward, also is now being mentioned as a January sale. Sporting's board eager to cash in now, rather than risk a drop-off in form affecting his valuation in June.
So there's players available. Matchwinners. Difference-makers. The focus, of course, will be on a new midfield addition to cover Rodri's absence. Real Sociedad captain Martin Zubimendi and Crystal Palace's young tyro Adam Wharton are both on City's radar.
But for that much-needed spark, City need something else. Someone more dynamic. And a Guimaraes or Gyokeres would fit the bill. It's not just fans, or even managers, who crave new names. Players, particularly the most competitive, feel the same.
“The truth is, I would say no comment, but...," declared Tottenham defender Cristian Romero at the beginning of the week. “Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn't do well, strengthens again, and now they're seeing results. Those are the things to imitate."
City's players need that lift. That inspiration. And the man to make that happen is Txiki Begiristain. This final transfer window is shaping up to the most important of his City career.
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