Eamon Dunphy has compared world number seven Rory McIlroy to Manchester City ahead of the Citizens’ Champions League quarter-final second leg with Liverpool on Tuesday.
City enter the match looking to cut a three goal deficit following their fourth defeat of the season, and second to Liverpool, at Anfield last week.
McIlroy, who entered the final day of this year’s Masters trailing eventual winner Patrick Reed by three shots, ultimately dropped two shots to finish at nine under in a tie for fifth place.
Dunphy highlighted City’s defence as a notable weakpoint in their side and said that ‘it’s all duck or no dinner’ for both McIlroy and Pep Guardiola’s side.
“There is something wrong in that team defensively,” Dunphy said on RTE 2fm’s Game On. “They have conceded six goals in two matches in a week, the two biggest games of their season arguably.
“It’s a bit like Rory McIlroy, it’s either all duck or no dinner. Nicolas Otamendi is a walking goal machine in his own goal. Fabian Delph, a failed Aston Villa midfielder, is playing left-back.”
“Brilliance is a different thing from greatness. Greatness is solid and something that can be repeated. There is a resilience. They lack that and I think it is Guardiola.
“What he seems to be saying is, you don’t really need a defence. You can defend in the other team’s half. Forget all that stuff about great defenders. He’s wrong, wrong, wrong.
“They will never win the Champions League.”
Pep Guardiola said that he is open to altering his team for the return leg but that any changes are unlikely to involve Otamendi.
“Maybe [I will change],” said Guardiola.
“I have an idea of what we have to do tomorrow and the guys that are going to do it. But in the case of Nico, when a player does what he has done all we can do is be close to him.
“Nico does not just have huge qualities, he has a huge mentality. The third goal [against United] was a mistake but the other goals were so, so good.
“He lost the ball in the buildup to the third but there were a lot of mistakes after that. He has to defend better but we are here in the quarter-finals, 13 points in front against second in the Premier League and Nicolas Otamendi is one of the most important reasons why.”
