The Etihad has grown accustomed to dominance. Manchester City, the relentless machine under Pep Guardiola, have made winning look routine. Yet on Sunday evening, as the champions stumbled to a 2-2 draw against Tottenham, the cracks were visible — and Michael Owen wasted no time in pointing them out.
“This Manchester City side is not good enough to win the league this season,” Owen declared, his words cutting through the post-match chatter like a cold wind. For a club that has redefined excellence in English football, such a verdict feels almost sacrilegious. But Owen’s assessment wasn’t born of sensationalism; it was rooted in what unfolded on the pitch.
City controlled possession, as they so often do, but control without conviction is a dangerous illusion. Tottenham struck twice and exposed a vulnerability that has crept into Guardiola’s side this season: a lack of ruthlessness. Erling Haaland, usually the embodiment of inevitability, looked strangely muted.
Owen’s critique wasn’t just about one game—it was about a pattern. City have dropped points in matches they once would have strangled into submission. The aura of invincibility has dimmed, and rivals sense it.
For Guardiola, the challenge is as much psychological as tactical. His side have scaled every peak, rewritten every record. But sustaining hunger after years of triumph is the hardest task of all. Owen’s words may sting, but perhaps they serve as a timely reminder: dynasties don’t crumble overnight, they erode slowly, almost imperceptibly, until one day the title is gone.