Blip? Wobble? Crisis? Or historic turning point?
Manchester City skipper Bernardo Silva admitted to being “in a dark place” on Tuesday night.
He might have been speaking for the whole of mankind, as they were still voting in America.
As Chou-En-Lai famously said of the French revolution, “it’s too early to tell.”
Still, some optimistic United fans are already dreaming that it might just be when the pendulum begins to swing back in Manchester.
Incoming boss Ruben Amorim had just beaten City 4-1 in the Champions League while still at the helm of Sporting Lisbon.
Who knows what he might do with the full backing of the Old Trafford regime?
And the Red Devils are well aware of how a relatively minor incident can come to be seen as a pivotal moment.
The classic being Mark Robins’ scrambled goal that saved Fergie.
So, could the outrageous VAR decision to give West Ham a penalty the previous weekend have precipitated something as momentous?
Now officially declared “wrong”, it’s too late to save Erik Ten Hag whose goose was probably cooked anyway.
But, if this week is time to clutch at straws for United, it’s of genuine concern for City.
Three defeats in a row doesn’t happen very often under Pep Guardiola.
In fact, it’s happened only once – and two of them were both legs of the Champions League clash with Liverpool in 2018.
Sandwiched in between was a 2-3 home defeat to United, but City still won the League.
Suffice to say, that with a stack of injuries to key men, a lack of firepower and without the customary depth of previous seasons, City are far from their all-conquering pomp.
That said, they played well in the first half in Lisbon and Haaland missed a penalty in the second half.
But if anyone doubted Rodri’s importance, they don’t any longer.
The Spaniard is both the piston and crankshaft of the side that has swept all before it during its four consecutive title wins.
For those chaos theorists of a City persuasion, the moment the splutter started was when Rodri injured his ACL against Arsenal in September.
This devastating loss has been compounded by a thigh issue for creator-in-chief, Kevin de Bruyne.
The Belgian missed half of last season, but Rodri was there – except for those matches for which he was suspended, none of which City won.
In defence, Ruben Dias and John Stones have also been out and, without either, City are vulnerable on the counter.
A look at the EPL table affords reassurance. City are second, two points behind Liverpool, whom they have yet to meet, and five above Arsenal, Chelsea and Aston Villa.
It’s arguably a better start than usual as City tend not to hit their stride until the New Year.
But with Rodri out for the whole campaign, De Bruyne bearing a ‘final season’ look and Ilkay Gundogan not the player he was, City have lost their aura.
No one else is stepping into the breach. Mateo Kovacic isn’t a Gundogan, let alone a Rodri.
Jack Grealish has yet to justify his £100m fee or the hopes Pep had for him, while even Erling Haaland blows hot and cold.
The harsh truth is that Pep may have been too hasty in letting players go and not replacing them.
Fans have complained about lack of recruitment for two seasons – and this time Brazilian winger Savinho was the only addition.
Cole Palmer, offloaded to Chelsea for £40m, is the classic “baby in the bathwater” sale but, to be fair, no one thought he would be this good.
The most recent departee, Julian Alvarez, who has filled in for both Haaland and De Bruyne, would have been invaluable right now.
Pep has been in worse situations. His City low point surely being when he asked, “What is tackles?” after a thrashing by Leicester in his first barren season.
Then he was in danger of being dubbed a Fancy Dan who couldn’t hack it in the more physical EPL.
But he soaked up the lessons and has since added several more layers to his reputation.
With a resurgent Liverpool to overcome, this is probably his biggest challenge in England since that difficult debut campaign.
Arsenal are faltering but have missed Martin Odegaard like City are missing De Bruyne, and will surely regroup now that he’s back.
There’s a feeling that Liverpool are over-achieving in that they’re getting results their performances don’t quite deserve.
It’s still a phenomenal start for a new manager and we’ll know just how good Arne Slot is when he meets City.
Reinforcements in January could be key to deciding the title, but 2025 could see a far more drastic impact being made from the courtroom.
The impending verdict on the 115 charges has cast its own shadow over the season.
Most fans follow the bullish lead of the club hierarchy and were heartened by the points victory on the Associated Party Transactions (APT) issue.
But there are still those who have considered the consequences if the club is found guilty in the bigger case.
Draconian punishments, including relegation, have not been ruled out even though City have said they will fight these.
Given what has been meted out for minor bookkeeping offences, a huge points deduction still looms.
And all this cannot be divorced from Pep’s own future.
With his contract expiring at the end of this season, it was widely felt that he would call it a day.
But despite his stellar reputation, his options are limited. There’s no other club in England or Spain that would appeal and the national jobs are out, too, except for, maybe, Brazil.
Lately, the noises suggest he might stay – guilty verdict or not – as he’ll never get to rule so imperiously anywhere else.
Every wish is granted and it’s only his wife, Cristina Serra, weary of commuting between Barcelona and Manchester, who might sway him otherwise.
If Pep should go, with Slot at Liverpool and Amorim at United, City might struggle to find a worthy replacement.
Then they would be in a dark place and perhaps even at an historic turning point.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.