Gary Neville has a simple idea about why Man City players felt pressure after losing to Nottingham Forest.
Gary Neville thinks that all the attention and questions about Manchester City lately, including talks about relegation from the Premier League, are starting to affect the players.
Right now, City is six points behind the leaders, Arsenal, after losing 3-1 to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Enzo Maresca’s team had a fantastic start to the 2026-27 season, winning their first seven league games, but they haven’t been able to keep up that level recently.
City was found guilty of breaking 114 Premier League rules and could face serious punishments, including being dropped out of the top league. This situation is getting a lot of media coverage, and former Manchester United player Gary Neville thinks the uncertainty and pressure from all this is wearing on the team.
After the game, he told NBC Sports, “Everyone has been talking about this for the past month or so, and the players keep getting asked things like, ‘What do you think will happen? What if you get relegated? Will you stay?’ Imagine how tough that must be not just for the players, but their families and agents, too. It’s hard not to let that affect you.
“If you lose one or two games, you might think this is an excuse, but the players still need to improve, compete, and work harder on the field. Still, I believe all the media pressure has been weighing on them over the last month or so.”
In his post-match interview, City manager Enzo Maresca said the team didn’t play with enough energy in the first half. “When you don’t match the other team’s intensity and lose all the duels, it’s hard,” he told Sky Sports. “We tried to come back later, but by then we were 2-0 down, and in football, that’s always tough. We weren’t strong enough in winning duels or second balls in the first half, which made things more difficult.”