Monday, January 27

Pep Guardiola issues message of defiance to Man City after admitting 'everything is wrong'

Liverpool FC vs Manchester City FC – Premier League

Pep Guardiola's Man City side are now 11 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League. (Image: Getty)

Pep Guardiola is determined to tackle the deepening crisis at Manchester City.

The champions' alarming slide continued as they crashed to a fourth successive Premier League defeat when leaders Liverpool beat them 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday.

It was also their sixth defeat in seven games in all competitions, with the other game in that streak being their dramatic 3-0 capitulation until the 3-3 draw against Feyenoord last Tuesday.

It was by far the worst run of Guardiola's glorious managerial career – which saw him win 18 trophies at City alone – but he vowed to stand by the players and keep fighting.

“I had a better life before than today,” said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach, who faced ridicule from Liverpool fans who claimed he would be sacked. “Even the taste of the wine was better.

“But I'm incredibly honest with myself and, when we were winning a lot, my point of view was that I was lucky to experience that. Now I'm not depressed because everything is going wrong.

“When I think I can't do it we'll talk about it with the club but I feel like I want to do it and life isn't perfect in every department.

“Now we are not as strong as we were, that is the reality, in very many circumstances – not just (the injury to) Rodri. Of course, Rodri is vital for us, but there is no not just him, for many reasons.

“The best way to get through this, for me too, is to get through reality, to make the decisions to find the solutions to try to win matches with these players.

“When I was in trouble, my mother and father never betrayed me. They were always there.

“Now I have the feeling in the club, I want to be with these players. We didn't think we could lose one game, two games. To lose six or seven is 'wow', it's a lot, but it is what it is true, accept it.

City, champions of the last four seasons, are now 11 points behind Liverpool and have slipped to fifth place in the table.

They were dominated by Arne Slot's team and could have lost by a score much heavier than the one given to them by Cody Gakpo's tap-in in the 12th minute and a Mohamed Salah penalty in the 78th. minute.

City hope to reach the milestone when they host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

Defender Ruben Dias said: “It was a tough game, it’s a tough time, but I saw a lot of character and definitely how we are going to move forward.

“I'm not going to talk about the little details. I'm going to focus on the big picture and the big picture is, even though it was a tough time, I saw a lot of character and I saw the fans behind us. That's the only way we're going to do it.”

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1983355/pep-guardiola-man-city-premier-league

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