Manchester City are used to breaking records with long runs. They are less used to breaking bad records stretching back to the early 2000's when they were, let's say... less good.

The current seven-game winless streak has seen a number of new lows locked in for Pep Guardiola's men. The cracks are starting to show in the dressing room and Guardiola looks short of ideas of how to fix things - heavily caveated, of course, by the endless injury crisis hampering his team selections.

So with an unprecedented run has come the inevitable gloating. City's era has ended, they say. Guardiola is no longer the tactician that up-and-coming coaches should idolise. All the trophies that have come before are tainted, apparently.

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Pep Guardiola insists that he is not thinking about titles or even finishing in the top four - but instead to simply win the next game. That was Ruben Dias's straight-to-the-point assessment at Anfield and what other players have been posting, too, in a public effort to keep fans onside.

If three points is the priority on Wednesday, then there are other myths that can be busted in the process, and in the coming weeks.

'City are a one-man team'

The worry when Rodri went down vs Arsenal was that they would have no replacement for a player so integral to their system. City always believed he was the best in the world, and the Ballon d'Or ceremony confirmed that last month - so how can you replace the irreplaceable?

Mateo Kovacic spoke before the season started about playing in that position, but needing help, and he kept the instant impact of Rodri's injury to a minimum. But with more injuries, he could only plug so many leaks and now he is injured too. It's Ilkay Gundogan's turn at number six.

The truth is that there is not a one-man solution to doing what Rodri does, but when everyone is fit there is surely a system of Kovacic or Gundogan, plus help from other midfielders and defenders inverting forward into that area. It can work - but City haven't had the chance to experiment with the players who will make it successful.

'City can't defend'

The truth is that City have been far too easy to play through this season, even before knowing Rodri would miss the season. They are conceding the first goal too often, and in recent games are conceding goals in quick succession to lose control of tight games.

With Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Manu Akanji back, pressure should be eased on the likes of Josko Gvardiol and Rico Lewis, while Kyle Walker is also back and must find some form from somewhere.

A clean sheet or two would be much-needed to stop the flow of goals and find a win from somewhere. Often, the best way to stop a losing run is to shore up at the back. Do that, and the criticisms will soon disappear.

'City can't score if Haaland doesn't'

"Erling wont solve it himself. We attack and defend together," said Guardiola on Friday. No City player has more than three goals this season compared to Haaland's 17. When Haaland has scored this season, City have a 70 per cent win rate, losing just once. When he doesn't score, the win rate drops to 33 per cent with four losses from nine games. In games he plays but doesn't score, the win rate is 25 per cent.

Without Haaland's goals, City would be 11 points worse off in the Premier League, which represents 47 per cent of their total. His 12 league goals is 54 per cent of their 22 scored so far in 13 games.

Phil Foden, Savinho, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva are yet to score in the league, while Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku only have a goal each. Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol are closest to Haaland with three goals each.

The stats don't make good reading - but the solution is clear. If those attacking players rediscover their form, the pressure is taken off Haaland, who in turn will play with more freedom after some uncharacteristic snatching at recent chances.

'City are too old'

Nobody was questioning the age of the squad in the summer, but the losing run carries the inevitable questions. A lot of key men are north of 30, and are suffering more injuries amid all the games they've had to play in recent seasons.

The decisions to hand Kyle Walker a three-year contract extension last summer is proving a little misguided, and the mishandling of Gundogan's contract in 2023 can be seen differently given his form upon his return. Kevin De Bruyne will be 34 at the start of next season if he stays and hasn't been fully fit for 18 months now - so a decision must be taken with him that puts emotion to one side.

But as Guardiola pointed out last week, the future is bright. They have Haaland, Foden, Doku, Savinho, Gvardiol, Lewis and James McAtee aged 24 or under and other key players still under 30. A rebuild is needed and some important figures will have to leave in the next year or two, yet there is a youthful core to the squad that can be built around.

City's average age in their squad is 27.5, only a year above the average for the league and four squads are older. If this is the beginning of the end for the current squad, it still has plenty of life yet to resurrect the season - and that experience could be invaluable.

'City didn't do enough in the summer'

Maybe this is true, but it's an easy conclusion to reach in hindsight. Say they spent £60m or more on a defensive midfielder capable of playing with or instead of Rodri, and that signing didn't play, they have a very expensive and unhappy new signing that could disrupt the squad rather than improve it.

Likewise, when Julian Alvarez left, City opted against another striker to push Haaland. A few months on and they would love an alternative option in attack, but with everyone fit they are confident that there are enough players to rotate in the front positions. The problems are the injuries which have pulled the few fit players out of position.

If Oscar Bobb didn't break his leg in the summer, the attack would look a lot different to its current state and the same goes for Rodri's injury. And Foden's issues. And De Bruyne's setbacks. And Grealish, and Savinho, and Doku.. you get the picture.

"With all the players ready, we will reach close to the levels we reached in the last seasons," Guardiola insisted on Friday.