How Man City's 'embarrassing' captain Kyle Walker has become the face of Pep Guardiola's first-ever crisis

For so long, the England fullback was a pillar of greatness for the champs, but he's become the weak link in a dreadful 2024-25 season.

After nine years of unmatched dominance, Manchester City's empire is collapsing, and the once-unrivaled Pep Guardiola has been exposed as a mere mortal like everyone else. Barring a miracle recovery, the reigning Premier League winners will not be celebrating a record-breaking fifth consecutive victory in May.

City's captain Kyle Walker.

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City were only beaten five times last season, but they have lost eight of their past eleven games in all competitions. Guardiola has never experienced a worse run of form as a manager, and the club's worst since 2003, five years before Sheikh Mansour's historic takeover at Etihad Stadium.

This is Guardiola's first major crisis, and it remains to be seen if he can lead City out of it. There is nothing in their previous performances that suggests things will change soon. Nobody fears them now, and one of the key reasons for this is Kyle Walker's persistent presence at right back.

City's 'Mr. Reliable' has devolved into a total liability, and while Walker retains the captain's armband, he is no longer setting a good example. The 34-year-old has allowed simple errors to sneak into his game, costing City each week, and opposition teams are now blatantly targeting him.

It should be mentioned that Walker has been limited by a number of minor fitness difficulties. Rico Lewis played ahead of him in the early parts of the season, and it appeared like a permanent changing of the guard was underway.

Walker, however, has started seven of City's ten games after returning from a knee injury sustained while on international duty with England in October. The veteran full-back was an unused substitute in both the shocking 4-1 loss to Sporting CP and the 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League, and he came on at half-time in City's 3-0 Premier League win over Nottingham Forest - their only victory in the last two months - but has otherwise been ever-present and arguably the team's worst player.

Walker was shredded by Timo Werner in City's 4-0 home loss to Tottenham, and he was responsible for both Crystal Palace goals when Guardiola's team was held to a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park. In City's most recent Champions League match against Juventus, his inability to track back gave Weston McKennie with enough of room in the area to volley home and secure a 2-0 victory for the hosts.

Walker made headlines once more for his wayward defending and behavior during the Manchester derby on Sunday. United won 2-1 at Etihad Stadium, but the final score might have been considerably worse for City if United had capitalised on Walker's incompetence - and if the referee had been strong enough to punish him for one disgusting show of theatricality.