Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher pulled no punches in their scathing assessment of Manchester City 's performance during the 2-1 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield . Neville felt Sunday 's showing was far from what is to be expected of title challengers and indeed of last season 's champions . Meanwhile Carragher , who also writes a column for Sportsmail , has questioned the suitability of City manager Manuel Pellegrini 's tactics . Sky Sports pundit and Sportsmail columnist Jamie Carragher laid into Manchester City 's poor performance . Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson ( left ) pressures Manchester City 's James Milner for the ball . Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho ( right ) had an outstanding game against Manchester City . 'If I was a Manchester City player , I 'd be embarrassed how easy it is to play through them , ' Neville said during live commentary on Sky Sports . 'We 're judging Manchester City as champions of the Premier League . There has to be progression year on year , you have to get better . But this team , we keep seeing the same mistakes being made ' Prior to the Liverpool game , questions had been raised over Pellegrini 's decision to play with two strikers and leave his midfield exposed . With flair players David Silva and Samir Nasri also not fulfilling their defensive duties , the Chilean 's bold selections appeared to have signalled some oversight . And in the post-match analysis , Carragher offered his opinion : 'To employ that system ( 4-4-2 ) in the big games is so naive . It 's embarrassing really for a manager at that level to go into a game against Barcelona two years running and then again at Anfield like this . 'Something is not right about City and there has to be changes at the end of the season . ' City sit second in the Premier League table but they are five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea having played a game more . City 's attacking midfielder David Silva ( left ) was accused of neglecting his defensive duties against Liverpool . Carragher has questioned Manuel Pellegrini 's decision to play with two strikers at Anfield . The result leaves City second in the Premier League , five points off the pace of leaders Chelsea .
CityManchester City lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Anfield . The result leaves them five points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea . Gary Neville labelled Manchester City 's performance against Liverpool embarrassing . Jamie Carragher has questioned Manuel Pellegrini 's tactical decisions . Manchester City found themselves overrun in midfield during the defeat . CLICK HERE for all the latest CityManchester City news .