Pep Guardiola admitted his Manchester City side are “fragile” after the Premier League champions were hammered 4-0 at home by Tottenham in the biggest upset of the season so far.
A brace from James Maddison and goals for Pedro Porro and Brennan Johnson consigned the Citizens to their first defeat at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League since November 2022 against Brentford – ending their longest ever unbeaten run at home in all competitions (52 games).
And it marked the fifth loss in a row for City in league and cup – the first time in Guardiola’s career that he has been on such a losing streak. With his side now five points behind league leaders Liverpool, who could extend that gap to eight points with a win at Southampton tomorrow and who welcome City to Anfield next weekend, the Spanish boss addressed his team’s shocking run.
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Guardiola told BBC Sport: “We are fragile at the moment, we could not defend properly. We started well, struggled to score and then conceded. Then situation is more difficult.
“I’ve been here as a player, maybe not as a manager, first three games at Barcelona we lost. The only chance we have is stay there. Last eight years the results have been there, it would be a mistake to change the approach.
(Image: Getty Images)
“There are not fairy tales in life and sport, sometimes you have to live through these situations. You have to accept it. You can’t blame each other, stay together, continue to do what we have done.
“Run away? Absolutely not, we have to stand up more than ever. What will define us is when we fail, we stand up and face it.
“I don’t know what will happen this season, but not for one second will I not believe in these players. There is no team in the world that can sustain success for eight, nine, ten years in a row. Of course everything is not fine, but what we try to do is analyse it, let’s go to next game and see what happens.
(Image: Getty Images)
Guardiola, who is counting the cost of injuries to star midfielders Rodri and Kevin de Bruyne, the first of whom is out for the season and the latter a late substitute in the defeat against Spurs, said late returning players from international duty was also a problem, as he looked towards two huge games this coming week, firstly in the Champions League and then against Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
He said: “I have to see the situation. The players came back late [from internationals]. There were a few reasons we’re not able to be consistent. Now the balance is not in the right moment. But it happened. We have to do it, talk and on Tuesday against Feyenoord have the chance to try.
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“Of course Rodri is important but we knew that for many months. But Stones can only play 45 minutes. Jack has been injured many times. Kevin, two months and five months. We have to come back and freshen our minds. The season is so long. Many things can happen.
“Before the game I didn’t know what will happen today. So I don’t know what will happen at Anfield. Everyone knows the situation is new for us. We struggled more without the ball. I don’t know how many chances we created. Our game was there.”