Come the final whistle of Manchester City’s 4-nil defeat to Tottenham at the Etihad last night; you got the impression that this is fast becoming the toughest challenge in the managerial career of

If the first scarcely left City distraught, with Guardiola unworried by exiting the Carabao Cup, the latest was more emphatic, more dramatic, more chastening, more stunning. Guardiola’s joint heaviest defeat became an embarrassment.