Guardiola: “I trust these players more than ever”
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes they can turn their fortunes around, saying “I trust these players more than ever.”
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Guardiola says “I trust these players more than ever”
Guardiola’s side was shellshocked after suffering a 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The loss came just two days after Guardiola signed a two-year deal to stay with City.
Guardiola has never previously lost five consecutive games in his entire managerial career.
Despite their recent struggles, the Spanish manager continues to place his faith in his “hurting” players.
“I trust these players more than ever,” said Guardiola.
“I’ve never seen a player in my life who wants to perform badly or make a bad performance to the fans or for the club. Nobody wants it.
“When they are in front of 60,000 people they want to perform well. But for many reasons, it hurts.”
“We are not solid enough”
City’s defeat to Spurs marked their heaviest home loss since 2003 and the first time they have suffered five consecutive defeats since 2006.
The champions are now eight points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, following the Reds’ 3-2 win at Southampton on Sunday.
The absence of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic has left City’s weakened defense exposed to too many attacks.
Tottenham’s game plan focused on quickly getting the ball wide to Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski to isolate City’s full-backs and pressure the central defense.
The game proved to be a depressing moment for City.
“At the moment we are not solid enough, that is the truth,” Guardiola said.
“I will not say a word that my time is not good but I have been there as a football player. They are not, ‘hey it doesn’t matter’. You want to do well but you have doubts.”
Nonetheless, Guardiola vowed to “find a way” to turn things around as they prepare to host Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday, followed by a crucial clash against Liverpool.
“When we started to lose, I said to people, ‘we have to find a way’,” he said. “That is my duty.
“Sometimes you don’t have it for many reasons, so which players at our disposal are better than the other ones? Lets’ go to try and do it with them.”