Pep Guardiola: Manchester City boss accepts blame for bad run
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says he blames himself for the club’s poor performance.
City, which has won the Premier League for the past four years and six of the past seven, is currently 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
one 2-0 win over Leicester City Sunday’s game was just their second win in 14 games.
It was his worst spell in a coaching career that included hugely successful spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“As a manager there are many, many things, but I missed something – something I didn’t do well,” said Guardiola, who has been at the club for nine seasons.
“At the end of the day, when you lose a lot of games, the manager has an incredible responsibility. The team needed something and confidence and I couldn’t do that.
“It’s my decision first, not the players’ problem. Naturally they drop a little bit, that’s normal. It happened a little bit last season too.”
City have started slowly in previous seasons – finishing six points or more behind the leaders in each of their past four title-winning campaigns – but they have never been this bad.
“With this consistency (of results) I should find it and that’s why we are in this position,” Guardiola said.
“I blame (myself). It’s not like, ‘Oh, how good Pep is’ – that’s the truth. I led this group of players and I couldn’t lift them. That’s the reality.”
Manchester City has suffered a number of injuries this season, including Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri, a point Guardiola has emphasized many times.
“We were the only unbeaten team in Europe (until October 30) and top of the league, but we fell off quickly with injuries and a lot of things we talked about,” he said.
“But, even then, I should find a way to get better results.”
champions 15:00 GMT vs. West Ham United Saturday.
