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Pep Guardiola insisted that he is to blame for Manchester City’s dramatic decline this season.
The champions’ campaign hit an unexpected and spectacular buffer in the autumn, with the team suffering nine defeats in 13 games in all competitions before last weekend’s win at Leicester.
A number of factors can be cited for the demise, including a long list of injuries, aging players past their prime, a natural decline in intensity after years of dominance and uncertainty stemming from off-field issues.
I was leading that group of players and I couldn’t lift them up. This is the reality
Pep Guardiola
Yet City boss Guardiola, who won 18 trophies during his glittering nine-year reign at the Etihad Stadiumhe feels that failure is upon him.
The Catalan said: “There are many, many things (to being a manager) and I’ve missed something, something I’m not doing well.
“At the end of the day, when you lose a lot of games, it’s an incredible responsibility for a manager. There is something that the team needs and confidence, and I couldn’t do that.
“First it’s on me, not on the players. They naturally fall a little and that’s normal. It happened a bit last season as well.
“But with this consistency (of results) I should have found it and that’s why we’re in this position.
“I blame (myself). It doesn’t mean to say: ‘Oh how nice Pep is’ – that’s the truth. I was leading that group of players and I couldn’t lift them up. This is the reality.
“We were the only undefeated team in Europe and the top of the league, but we immediately fell, because of injuries, a lot of things we talked about.
“But even with that, I needed to find a way to get better results.”
Guardiola admitted he was not particularly impressed with City’s performance in their 2-0 win over the struggling Foxes. King Power Stadiumbut he recognized the lift he could give his players.
He believes the team now have plenty to build on as they look to secure back-to-back wins for the first time since October when West Ham visit on Saturday.
Guardiola said: “We know our level. How does the team compare to the previous eight years? We are not there.
“So I’m not telling myself that one result is going to change my perspective on how the team is right now, but at the same time hopefully the results will help us get more faith and calmness in many, many things.
“Sometimes you need a change, something in your mind, your head, to recover some aspects, a lift, and this is what I need right now. That’s why the win in Leicester was very, very important.”