Kevin De Bruyne: Can "true captain" ease Man City's problems after "brilliant" Tottenham cameo

Manchester City are reeling after a run of five consecutive defeats, an unprecedented run of poor form under manager Pep Guardiola, who watched his team suffer a heavy 4-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League last weekend.

A first-half brace from James Maddison followed by second-half strikes from Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson condemned the injury-riddled Citizens to their first defeat in 53 matches at the Etihad Stadium.

Man City are enduring the worst run of form for the English champions in over 50 years and their defeat against Spurs leaves them sitting eight points behind in-form Premier League leaders Liverpool, whom they lock horns with at Anfield on Sunday.

"I did feel there was obviously a chance City would be breaking records [this season]. Didn't realise it'd be these kind of records, five in a row in terms of losses. Right now it's incredibly hard to digest," Man City expert Steven McInerney form Esteemed Kompany told Sports Mole senior reporter Oliver Thomas.

"[Against Spurs] it felt like a continuation of the problems that we've already known for City...the problems are so clear. There's a real failing in both boxes."

Man City's injury and fitness issues that have forced Guardiola to work with a depleted squad for several weeks has been a huge contributing factor to the club's decline in form, but their problems run much deeper than that.

Man City missing presence of "true captains" De Bruyne, Rodri, Dias

Indeed, McInerney has highlighted how Man City's "fragility" and "soft defending" was once again there for all to see in the defeat to Spurs, while they also failed to take their chances at the other end of the pitch, registering just five of their 23 shots on target.

A number of senior Citizens stars have also struggled to reach the heights expected so far this term, including the likes of Bernardo Silva and last season's Premier League Player of the Season Phil Foden, who is yet to score in nine top-flight appearances thus far.

McInerney has been left "really disappointed watching the heads drop from a lot of players" when City have fallen behind in recent games, and he believes that Foden, Bernardo and even Erling Haaland do not have the same impact on a team as "true captains" like Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Ruben Dias in leading the side during this difficult period.

While Rodri is sidelined for the rest of the season with an ACL injury, both Dias and De Bruyne - particularly the latter - have had their own injury problems this term and their absence has certainly been felt by Guardiola's side.

De Bruyne - who has recently addressed his future at Man City - made a positive impact during a cameo substitute appearance towards the end of last weekend's defeat to Spurs, and McInerney feels the return to full fitness of the legendary playmaker could help solve a lot of the club's problems.

Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion following Man City's defeat to Tottenham in the Premier League.