Manchester City: Guardiola concedes players’ fragility as City’s winless run stretches to sixth
After eight successful years as Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola is having his worst-ever season as Manchester City failed to win in their six consecutive matches.
The latest winless outing came against Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League last night when the Citizens threw away three-goal lead in the pace of fifteen minutes to settle for three-all draw.
The ongoing Manchester City’s ridiculous show simply signifies that pep Guardiola’s team are now on a stretch of six matches, in all competitions, without recording a victory.
All eyes are being stretched and eyebrows being raised at their next tricky trip to Anfield, where they will be battling it out with the accidental “table-toppers,” Liverpool, in the EPL.
Pep Guardiola has admitted that his team losing three-goal lead to Feyenoord was something he still finds ‘difficult to digest’ and conceded that his players are ”fragile” following their dramatic collapse in a much-needed match against Feyenoord where they blew away a three-goal lead, with just fifteen minutes left today, to settle for three-all draw.
The holistic assertion and fact is that City, the 2023 Champions League winners, sit uncomfortably in fifteenth place after experiencing their sixth winless run of matches last night, comprising five losses.
“We lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile and of course, we need a victory, “Guardiola said during his post-match conference.
“It’s not about no run or no commitment, but football you have to be [switched on] in certain moments to do it. Difficult to swallow right now.”
Manchester City’s next EPL match is against Liverpool, the current Premier League leaders, on Sunday. If City lose to Liverpool at Anfield, they fall a bit deep low, eleven points adrift Liverpool.
In the CL game against Feyenoord last night, City appeared to have been all set for a morale-boosting win over Feyenoord, who sit fourth in the Dutch Eredivisie Standings, with three-goal lead, courtesy two goals from Erling Haaland in each half and one goal from Iikay Gundogan
Howbeit, Feyenoord came back to stun City by hitting back three uninterrupted goals in the pace of fifteen minutes to deny Guardiola’s side of a victory.
City drawing or losing after three-goal lead against an opponent was first under the reign of Guardiola’s City side and worst-ever experience for Guardiola during his managerial career.
In the history of the Champions League, no team ever threw away three-goal lead after the seventy-fifth minute and not failed to win.
“The game was good for the confidence, we were playing at a good level and then for the first time something happened, we have problems.
“Everybody knows the situation, we don’t have to adapt anything. Tomorrow [Wednesday] we have to train, recovery then prepare the next game. We have two or three days to prepare for that and go for it. We will learn for the future.
“It has been a really difficult season for us for many circumstances and today, unfortunately, the game was well done, we punished them in the right moments.
“The team was so committed to so many things. But unfortunately, something happened and we were not strong enough. We have to avoid these mistakes.”
The City coach finds it difficult to narrate why the EPL defending champions, who have now swept-in seventeen goals in last six matches, are at loss to get back to winning ways, says: “We are not able to win games, as a team always we found a way to win games.
“Right now after situations, we can’t get another one. After 3-0, nothing happened. We couldn’t score a fourth, we couldn’t score a fifth. Nothing happened. We were in control but now something happened.”
He continued during the press conference: “Of course they [the players] feel it, they play good many aspects. We make 26 shots against Tottenham and lost 0-4.
“We are a team who concede few, few goals over these eight or nine years. Now it is not going to happen. We cannot close the games.”
Guardiola quickly jumped into the defense of City’s defender Josko Gvardiol after the Croatian’s gaffe pave way for Feyenoord’s lifeline back into the game.
He said: “He’s so young, he will learn,” said Guardiola. “It will be a good experience. With the way he played, he was the best player on the pitch. I will be so wrong to point a specific thing in our defeat.
“He’s a fantastic player, a fantastic boy, now more than ever he must be helped.”
Reacting to the dramatic draw against Feyenoord, Man. City Defender Nathan Ake says throwing away three-goal lead feels like a defeat, suggesting they have mentality issues
According to him when asked after the disappointing draw, “Difficult – 3-0 up and we played quite well and were under control, but then it all changed.
“You just have to stay strong mentally. At 3-1, they then push on, but I think we need to go for it a bit earlier so we could keep the pressure on them, but we stayed playing at the back and maybe invited more pressure on us.
“Then when you concede the second one there is even more pressure, and then we have to stay stronger mentally.”
Reacting to ‘if City gave away the game’: “Yes, I think we did. If you are 3-0 up at home, you can never give it away like this. It is what it is at the moment. The only thing we can do is fight back and stay strong.”
On if the draw feels like a defeat: “When you are three goals up, it feels like a defeat when you give up three goals at home. It is tough now, a tough night, but the only thing we can do is look forward to the next one. Liverpool is a big game and it is another challenge to overcome.”
On ‘if City’s players have mentality issue’: “Maybe it is. It is difficult to say. Obviously we have not been in this situation many times, but this is where we have to show our character.
“When everything seems to go against us and everyone is writing us off, we have to stay strong mentally, believe in ourselves and stick together.
“Every season there is a period when they write us off. We have to make sure we stay strong as a team and staff and make sure we get out of it.”
Manchester City: Guardiola Concedes Players’ Fragility
