Pep Guardiola, who has been eerily calm, insisted that the “solution” to Manchester City’s poor form is simply to wait for his injured players to return to full fitness.
The city was sent to disguise 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa At lunchtime on Saturday. The defending Premier League champions were toothless for most of their trip to Villa Park, barely providing any sustained threat before Phil Foden’s stoppage-time consolation goal. City have now lost nine of their previous 12 matches in all competitions.
Erling Haaland once again went around the edges of the competition and admitted as much after the match It wasn’t good enough In recent weeks. However, the Scandinavian player took solace in the fact that Guardiola is still at the helm of Manchester City. Haaland insisted that he “will find solutions.” “He’s been doing it every year. We still believe in him.”
Not for For the first time this seasonGuardiola carried out his post-match media duties with visible scratches on his scalp. After an energetic display on the touchline at Villa Park, the Catalan coach prepared himself for the press conference and laid out the easy solution to his team’s problems.
“It depends on us” Guardiola He said, barely raising his voice above a whisper. “The solution is to bring the players back. We only have one centre-back, and this is difficult. We will try in the next match – another chance and we are not thinking beyond that.”
Great City defender Ruben Dias Join a crowded therapy room Last weekend. Fellow centre-back John Stones could only last 45 minutes against Villa before a pre-existing injury forced him off, leaving Manuel Akanji with a barren backline.
Guardiola has ventured beyond the injury excuse, but has only offered fluctuations. “Of course there are other reasons,” he sniffed. “We are conceding goals that we have not conceded in the past, (not) scoring the goals that we have scored in the past. Football is not just one reason. There are a lot of small factors.”
During the last eight Premier League In matches, City got just four points, scoring nine times and conceding 16 points. Despite this terrible series, Guardiola was optimistic that the title race was still on. City lost – as he pointed out – to Villa Park last December before winning the Premier League title for the fourth time in a row.
The league champion pointed out: “Last season we won the English Premier League, but we came here and lost.” “We have to think positive and I have incredible confidence in the players. Some of them have incredible pride and desire to do this. We have to find a way, step by step, sooner or later to find a way back.”
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