Jermaine Jenas exclusive: Pep Guardiola's arrival will signal the end of an era for City's creaking squad

When Pep Guardiola accepted the Manchester City job, he would have asked himself one question about the club's current squad: is this a team that can win me the Champions League?

When he watches a recording of City's defeat to Tottenham this weekend, and I have no doubt that he will, it will only reinforce what he probably suspected all along. This is not even a team that can win the Premier League.

It's time for a shake-up at the Etihad, and I expect Guardiola will be ruthless in carrying it out. City's front four might be safe, probably the goalkeeper too. But having watched Pep's teams at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, I could quite easily see him changing the entire back four and midfield for next season.

City have put in three below-par performances since the Guardiola deal was announced - against Sunderland, Leicester and now Spurs - but I don't buy into the idea that Guardiola's appointment has unsettled City's players.

On the contrary, knowing Pep is coming in the summer should motivate these players even more. Every player in that City squad will want to impress him because, inevitably, when Pep comes in you win things - and the current players will want to be in that team.

But City's problems run deeper than a bit of managerial uncertainty. Home defeats to Leicester and Spurs should not come as a shock because Pellegrini's team have not played well all season.

They have only managed to keep touch with the league leaders until now due to the size and strength of their squad. They have world class players, but defensively they have been shocking.

With the players they've got, you can never completely rule them out. But I haven't considered them title contenders all season, purely based on their vulnerability at the back.

Without Vincent Kompany they always look like they will concede - no matter who they're playing. Nicolas Otamendi looks a bit hot-headed, Martin Demichelis is good on the ball but too slow and Mangala is not the answer either. Nobody wins the title with a bad defence.

There isn't one player you could say has been consistently brilliant for them this season, with the possible exception of Kevin de Bruyne. He gave the club a massive lift when he signed, but losing him to injury was a huge blow.

What Guardiola will bring is a new style of play, with his own backroom staff and his own players. He will know, not from least from facing City in the past, that there is a weakness at their core. That's not just about personnel; it's about their style of play.

They have been too reliant on the likes of Sergio Aguero and David Silva to win them games, rather than being able to keep clean sheets.

Barcelona were never a defensive team, but their defensive record stands up. And from City's midfield to their back four, Guardiola could quite easily get rid of everything and start again.

The first thing he'll address is whether he has midfielders that retain the ball well enough. Fernandinho, Fernando and Fabian Delph are all good players, but is there enough craft in there?

This is a manager used to Sergio Busquets, Xavi Alonso, Thiago Alacantra, Xavi... players that can hold onto the ball and manipulate it. At City he doesn't have that type of player, unless he decides to drop Silva deeper, so he will definitely make changes.

As for Yaya Toure, he played centre-half for Guardiola when Barcelona beat Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final and marked Cristiano Ronaldo out of the game, so there is a relationship there. But even then, it would be no surprise to see Yaya depart.

Bearing in mind that if players don't want to leave, they don't have to (and City's players will be on very good contracts), in defence it could be a complete overhaul. Gael Clichy is coming towards the end of his career.

Aleksandar Kolarov has technical ability, but I'm not sure he has what it takes defensively. Bacary Sagna is excellent defensively - Gareth Bale always said to me he was the best right-back he faced in the league - but Guardiola's full-backs need more about them going forward. Pep may want to keep Pablo Zabaleta and Kompany around, but only if he can keep them fit.

It's not that these aren't all good players, but with Guardiola comes a higher standard of excellence than anywhere in world football. And on City's form this season - not just in their last two games - they have come nowhere near reaching those standards.

For the title-winning sides of 2012 and 2014, this feels like the end of an era.