Inconsistent Man City trio are “lacking conviction” and Pep Guardiola must focus on key “issue”

Manchester City wingers Savinho, Oscar Bobb and Jeremy Doku are all “lacking conviction” and their inconsistent form must be addressed by manager Pep Guardiola, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

All three wingers have shown signs of promise when given first-team opportunities this season, but delivering an end product on a consistent basis in the final third remains the missing piece in their development.

After a troublesome 2024-25 campaign with injury, Bobb has since featured in 11 of Man City’s matches in all competitions this season, but he is yet to score and has contributed with just one assist.

Bobb struggled to make his mark on the right flank in City's 1-0 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa last weekend, while Savinho also blanked in front of goal, just a few days after assisting in a man-of-the-match display for City in a 2-0 Champions League win over Villarreal.

Savinho, who has just one goal and two assists to his name in 10 appearances this term since a summer transfer to Tottenham failed to materialise, was preferred to start on the left wing against Aston Villa over Doku, who has arguably been City’s best performing winger of the three in 2025-26, albeit still inconsistent in the final third.

Doku assisted three goals in as many Premier League games in September, particularly impressing in a derby triumph over Manchester United, but like Bobb and Savinho, the Belgian is yet to score in the top flight despite playing in all nine of City’s matches this season.

Man City wingers “ineffective” and “lacked quality” in Villa defeat

Guardiola recently acknowledged that it is a slight concern that his Man City side are so reliant on leading marksman Erling Haaland, who has scored 65.2% of the club’s goals (15 out of 23) in all competitions this season; only Haaland and Phil Foden (two) have scored more than one goal for the Citizens.

McInerney believes that creativity from wide areas is an “issue” that Guardiola needs to “focus on”, and while Savinho, Bobb and Doku all possess useful qualities, their ability to perform consistently at Man City is still in question.

Speaking to Sports Mole after Man City’s defeat at Villa Park, McInerney said: “Villa is one of the toughest places to go in the Premier League, a side that absolutely thrives off the physicality of their team, their lineup.

“I think when it became more of a basketball game, end to end, City really didn't have the answer. We just lacked the quality really and that was what jumped out to me. I felt like we had all the tools to keep the ball, but none of the ingenuity to do anything with it.

“I think the wingers were a bit ineffective unfortunately. Oscar Bobb and Savinho were a big topic amongst City fans (after the game), because they didn't really get anything out wide.

“It's frustrating. I think all of them (Bobb, Savinho and Doku) have their own individual merits and abilities, but I think there are, very fairly, question marks over every single one of them.

“Doku started the season in incredible form. It seems to have plateaued a little bit in the past few games. The excitement around Doku has dipped a little bit, he was on the bench (against Aston Villa).

Savinho 'must deliver at some point', Bobb has “lost a little bit” after injury setback

“Guardiola wanted something different. I think he wanted more of a natural touchline hugger who’s going to provide width, given that [Josko] Gvardiol wasn't getting forward, because he had to stay deeper because [John] Stones was going into midfield. He wanted Savinho with his left foot to keep the width and whip some crosses in.

“Savinho - I'm already tired as a City fan of hearing the price tag, the £70m, £75m thing every time he has a bad touch. I understand why, but I think that points to a larger issue that's going to hang over him. That Spurs saga is going to hang over him and he's going to have to deliver at some point.

“I think there's a lot of effort there from Savinho, but not a lot of quality currently. I do believe that he's going to be a very good player. I'm not just saying that to defend him for the sake of it, I think the talents obvious, but he's not putting it all together right now. That would be fine if you had the others delivering week in week out, unequivocally.

“A small part of me does fear that Oscar Bobb has lost a little bit after the injury...Oscar Bobb isn't really a one-on-one touchline winger, and by that I mean Oscar Bobb is at his best when the opposition’s defence is penned in and Bobb has the chance to move into small spaces, uses quick footwork to create and link up with others.

“It feels right now it’s ‘give the ball to Oscar Bobb and go and beat two people’, and that's not really his game. He can do it and he will do every now and then, but Oscar Bobb comes alive if you give him the ball around the edge of the area or just inside it and he's got two or three people running around him... using his incredible touch and ability to shift his weight and go past people. That's where he's at his very best as a slightly interior playmaker with great footwork.

“I think Oscar Bobb is looking like a guy who's trying to do, tactically, a different job that he's used to and he's struggling a little bit. A lot of people then question his ability, which is probably unfair, but weirdly, two years younger in a different Man City side when we keep the ball, he might look even better than he is now with less experience, because we play in a certain way that smothers teams and that's when he comes alive and the movement's better.”

Man City tipped to “struggle” unless wingers develop into consistent performers

McInerney has suggested that tactical tweaks from Guardiola could be a factor behind the inconsistent form of his Man City wingers.

He added: “If we're not creating these ideal situations for [Bobb], then we're putting him in a system that doesn't suit him, which therefore means we have a problem because you've got a player who's not playing to his most effective and that means you've got a right-wing issue.

“We've got Savinho who can't keep his form going, Doku started brilliantly but we've started tweaking things a little bit and again his form's maybe dipped a little bit. It felt like last season when we just gave the ball to Doku to see if he can beat someone, where previously he's been drifting centrally, liking up with people like Foden and [Nico] O'Reilly. Where's that gone?

“Ultimately if you've got wingers offering nothing, [Tijjani] Reijnders struggling in midfield and Foden and Bernardo Silva can't keep up the physicality of Aston Villa, then half your team there creatively is sort of defunct. That is an issue that we have to sort of focus on.”

McInerney continued: “I think City are lacking conviction out wide right now, that is how I'd put it. There's a lot of questions, and we will get through a lot of games fine, the players can produce moments of brilliance, absolutely - a couple of assists in a row for Savinho, Bobb started the season well and so did Doku - but it's just not consistent.

“Given that our main creative outlets are coming out wide these days, I think there are fair questions there, and it might be that until one or two of them develop a little bit, we're going to struggle a little bit every now and then.”

Meanwhile, McInerney has also given his assessment of Man City’s overall performance in the defeat at Aston Villa and discusses where Guardiola’s men currently stand in the race for the Premier League title.

> Click this link to view and listen to the full discussion