Pep Guardiola has said he must take the blame for Manchester City’s poor form. His team have won twice in 14 matches in all competitions in a floundering season which has left them in sixth and with a small chance of retaining the Premier League title.
City host West Ham on Saturday as they aim to secure consecutive victories for the first time since late October. Guardiola’s side beat Leicester on Sunday after five league matches without a win to leave them 14 points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
“The call is on me first,” Guardiola said after being asked if he had been too loyal to his players. “I’m unbelievably honest with myself for the reason why we arrive here and it is me. It’s not the players. They naturally drop a little bit and that is normal. It happened a little bit last season as well.
“But with this consistency [of results] I should have found it and that is why we’re in this position. I blame [myself]. It’s not to say, ‘oh how nice is Pep’, it’s the truth. I lead that group of players and I could not lift them. This is the reality. Why in the past they followed me, they were able to get results? We were the only unbeaten team in Europe and top of the league. Immediately we went down. For injuries, many things we’ve talked about. But even with that, I should have found a way to get better results. Hopefully we can continue now.”
One problem faced by Guardiola is an extensive injury list. He will again be without Rodri, Rúben Dias, John Stones, Matheus Nunes and Oscar Bobb against West Ham, who arrive at the Etihad Stadium without captain and top scorer Jarrod Bowen due to a fractured foot. But Ederson could return to the squad after missing the past three matches with a leg injury.
City won at the King Power Stadium but struggled to find rhythm and generally reach the standards that has resulted in them winning four Premier League titles in a row. “We have to recover our game because we were lucky in Leicester,” admitted Guardiola.
“Spirit and run and desire of course but I know our level because I saw it here in front of my eyes during many, many years and I’m not going to deny myself, the players are not going to deny ourselves the reality.
“It’s football, sometimes you know you need a change and something in the mind to recover some aspects and lift the team. This is what I need right now and that’s why the victory in Leicester was really, really important. I’m not denying that.” – Guardian
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