Dec 03,2024
Pep Guardiola is determined to battle through Manchester City's deepening crisis.
The champions' alarming slump 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 loss in seven games in all competitions, with the other game in that sequence being their dramatic capitulation from 3-0 up to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord last Tuesday.
It is by far the worst run of Guardiola's glorious managerial career - which has seen him win 18 trophies at City alone - but he has promised to stick by the players and fight on.
"I've lived better before than now," said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss, who was subjected to taunts from Liverpool fans that he would be sacked. "Even the taste of the wine was better.
"But I am incredibly honest with myself and, when we were winning a lot, my perspective was that I was fortunate to live that. Now I am not depressed that everything is going bad.
"When I think I cannot do it we will talk with the club but I feel that I want to do it and life is not in all departments perfect.
"Now we are not as strong as we were, that is the reality, for many, many, many circumstances - not just (the injury to) Rodri. Of course Rodri is vital for us, but it's not just him, for many reasons.
"The best way to go through that, for myself as well, is to go through the reality, to make the decisions to find the solutions to try to win games with these players.
"When I was in trouble my mum and dad never gave me away. Always they were 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. Losing six or seven is 'wow', it is a lot, but it is what it is, accept it."
City, champions for the past four seasons, now trail Liverpool by 11 points and have slipped to fifth in the table.
They were outplayed by Arne Slot's team and could have lost by a far heavier scoreline than that given to them by Cody Gakpo's 12th-minute tap-in and a 78th-minute Mohamed Salah penalty.
City will hope to turn the corner when they host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Defender Ruben Dias said: "It was a difficult game, it's a difficult period, but I saw a lot of character and most definitely how we are going to move forward.
"I am not going to talk about the little details. I'll focus on the big picture and the big picture is that, even though it was a difficult moment, I did see a lot of character and I did see the fans behind us. That's the only way we are going to go through it."
Only three times have teams come from more than 11 points back to win a Premier League title.
Manchester United overturned 12-point deficits in 1992-93 and 1995-96 while Arsenal were 13 behind United, albeit with a game in hand, after losing to Blackburn in December 1997 but finished top by a point after winning 10 in a row from March to May.
Guardiola has failed to win his league title in only three of his 15 seasons as a manager but is facing the prospect of a fourth.
Slot's side have a nine-point lead even over nearest rivals Arsenal and Chelsea. Only seven times has a larger margin been overcome – albeit most recently by City to overhaul Liverpool from 10 behind in 2018-19.
