For years, Manchester City’s success has been taken for granted. Pep Guardiola’s side were victims of their own success, so extraordinarily good that winning multiple Premier League titles was normalised.
This season has been horrible for Guardiola and his players, yet has at last given them some welcome perspective on just how good they were. And however far they have fallen, everybody expects them to come back.
Guardiola has signed up for more, Erling Haaland agreed a nine-year deal and the club spent nearly £180m in January. A top-five finish will see them into the Champions League, and then who dares bet against them next year?
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Once again, though, City are in danger of being worse than anyone imagined. It still seems unthinkable that they will finish outside the top four, or five, to secure their place at the top table of European football for another year.
But performances like Saturday just aren't good enough. Defeat to Nottingham Forest wasted an opportunity to take a giant leap towards Champions League qualification, and if they play like that, who is to say that they will beat Brighton at home next week, or fellow top-five rivals Aston Villa and Bournemouth?
City's squad has always been exceptional at shutting out the noise, ignoring what is being said about them to focus in on their goal. That has been revised down this season with each punishing defeat, and for all the talk of next season the Blues are in danger of taking it for granted that they will walk into the top four.
Guardiola has been honest enough to say that he hasn't been good enough this year, but is still determined to make sure City get over the line. After admitting that the level of his players was not good enough at the City Ground on Saturday though, is he seeing that same motivation from his squad?
"This is what I want," he said, sidestepping the opportunity to say that his players were - or weren't - up for it.
If there is much more sidestepping from anyone in his squad, they won't be getting the opportunity to play for City in the Champions League next season, whether the team qualifies or not.
