Q&A: Has campaign ended on a low before 2025-26 preparations?

Our football news reporter out in the United States covering Manchester City has been answering your questions on their Club World Cup campaign that ended at the hands of Al-Hilal on Monday.

In this first of a three-part Q&A, Shamoon Hafez looks at how the competition may affect City's preparation for the start of the Premier League season.

Fazil asked: Do you think it's a blessing in disguise that City were eliminated? This provides the players with more rest for a better pre-season before the Premier League.

Shamoon: I don't see it that way and I don't think the club will either. Pep Guardiola spoke about wanting to win the competition after earning the right to be there, so there will be major disappointment they fell at the first knockout stage.

Aside from the embarrassment of losing to a club from the Middle East, City missed out on an extra £9.5m by not reaching the knockout stage. They banked £37.8m in total during this tournament, which is less than half the £91.9m they would have earned in going all the way.

But the outcome can't be changed, so the players can now head off on their holidays for a rest before returning to training on 28 July.

Paul asked: Considering City's under-par performance in the Premier League last season, and the fact the team was clearly outnumbered at the Club World Cup by a more motivated Al-Hilal, do you think the campaign ended on a low and this might affect 2025-26?

Shamoon: Chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak and Guardiola have both said the competition was the start of the new season, rather than a continuation of the last. It went swimmingly in the group stages but they come unstuck against a well-drilled Al-Hilal side that, in the end, did a number on City by sitting back and hitting them on the break.

The new signings are exciting – Tijjani Reijnders' energy, Rayan Cherki's impact in the final third and Rayan Ait-Nouri's contributions going forward - but City are a real mess defensively.

There were signs of vulnerability against Wydad AC and Al-Ain in the opening two games. They were unable to capitalise but City were found out against decent opposition.

Guardiola needs to spend the next few weeks working on a plan to fix his backline before the start of the Premier League campaign.

Come back to this page later on Wednesday for part two of the Q&A, which focuses on squad selection and areas to strengthen