Psychological strain and tactical questions shadow Manchester City during international break

Manchester City have suffered three successive Premier League defeats after beginning the campaign with a record seven consecutive victories, and the ongoing international break will give manager Enzo Maresca time to address problems in his squad.

Maresca, who took over from Pep Guardiola in the summer, made a dream start to his tenure before form dipped; Enzo Fernandez and Elliot Anderson both cost Manchester City more than £100m in the summer. In September it was announced City had been found guilty of breaching the Premier League's financial rules, and matches have continued while the club await the outcome of their appeal and the possibility of sanctions. Renowned sports psychologist Dr Paul McCarthy, who has 25 years' experience working with top clubs in England, Scotland, Germany and France, warned that disrupted situations require teams to "piece together a jigsaw" and described how off-field uncertainty can affect performance.

City have slipped to third in the table behind Arsenal and Brighton after the sequence of results that followed the guilty verdict: a win against 10-man Liverpool at Anfield, a narrow victory over Ipswich at the Etihad, then defeats by Aston Villa, Brighton and Nottingham Forest that exposed defensive weaknesses and costly individual errors.

Statistically, the shift is stark: in their first seven league games this season City did not concede any goals that were down to individual mistakes, but in the subsequent three matches four such errors contributed to goals. The club have conceded 13 goals after 10 league games — their highest total at this stage of a season since 2008-09, when they had let in 16. On the question of whether the appeal and surrounding uncertainty are affecting players, McCarthy said: "Yeah, that would be a very reasonable human response." He added: "When people are uncertain about their future, that uncertainty leads to a lack of perceived control, so uncertainty is often more stressful than bad news and the research shows that."

Tactically, Maresca has shifted toward a more attacking configuration this season, having previously explained in a video from his time at Chelsea how he moved counters into a 3-2-2-3 shape before pushing one up to create a 3-1-6; he used six attackers against Inter Milan to outnumber their back five. This term he has adopted the 3-1-6 shape more permanently, trading a second holding midfielder for an extra attacking midfielder, and City’s possession set-up has often resembled a 3-1-5-1 or 3-1-6 with Anderson frequently occupying the holding role.

Elliot Anderson, naturally a roaming, physically strong midfielder who cost the club more than £100m, has been asked to learn a deeper sitting role following Rodri's departure in the summer; the article notes that learning that position took time for Rodri when he first joined. Against Nottingham Forest Anderson defended intensely, pressed high and wide and joined attacks, but his habit of stepping out of the central area has been used by opponents to create space through the middle — illustrated when Enzo Le Fee pulled wide, Brian Brobbey dropped in to receive from a centre-back, and Anderson was drawn out of position.

Further problems arise from City’s build-up and ball-playing under pressure: Gianluigi Donnarumma is described as not being a goalkeeper renowned for his ball-playing ability, and the defensive group, while serviceable, have made costly errors playing out from the back. The piece cites a sequence in which City had four players near or behind the ball before Josko Gvardiol was dispossessed and Nottingham Forest, with four attackers, scored from the turnover. The article notes that Pep Guardiola’s approach last season involved asking midfielders to take more ball-playing responsibility, and that the departures of Rodri and especially Bernardo Silva — who would drop deep and progress the ball alone — have made City’s problems more visible; it adds that Ayyoub Bouaddi may be someone who could be used in this role, "as we saw him against Brazil's press in the World Cup."

The immediate task for Maresca is to use the international break to address the combination of psychological uncertainty and tactical vulnerabilities while the club wait for the appeal decision; City sit six points behind league leaders Arsenal, who are looking in imperious form as they aim to retain their title.