PEP GUARDIOLA has long been in a league of his own for setting football firsts — but this was one no one saw coming.
The sight of the Manchester City manager, a man hailed as the best in the world, talking lost dressing rooms.
Even more remarkable, he had raised the subject himself.
All of a sudden, even seven defeats in ten games for the four-time champions was knocked into a cocked hat. This was even more jaw-dropping.
Guardiola was addressing the worst run of his managerial career, and defiant that it has only given him a greater heart for the battle.
There is only one loss that would bring the serial-winning Spaniard to his knees — and it would not be on a pitch.
It is the moment Guardiola suspected his words were falling on deaf ears. When the players no longer saw him as a footballing Pied Piper. When the dressing room was no longer his.
Yet before City fans start calling the Samaritans, the Messiah has seen no hint of it yet.
But he admits that if he ever does, he will be out of the Etihad in the blink of an eye.
Guardiola insisted: “There is one thing when I would say, ‘Pep, you have to think about it’. And that’s when I lose the team.
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“When I feel they do not run. When everyone says the manager has lost the team and they don’t follow me.
“In that moment I will not be here for one more minute.
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Pep Guardiola’s horror Man City run
PEP GUARDIOLA admitted he is having sleepless nights as he endures his worst-ever spell as a manager.
Here are the three-time defending Premier League champions’ nightmare last 10 games…
Oct 30: Tottenham 2 Man City 1 – DEFEAT
Nov 2: Bournemouth 2 Man City 1 – DEFEAT
Nov 5: Sporting Lisbon 4 Man City 1 – DEFEAT
Nov 9: Brighton 2 Man City 1 – DEFEAT
Nov 23 – Man City 0 Tottenham 4 – DEFEAT
Nov 26: Man City 3 Feyenoord 3 – DRAW
Dec 1: Liverpool 2 Man City 0 – DEFEAT
Dec 4: Man City 3 Nottingham Forest – WIN
Dec 7: Crystal Palace 2 Man City 2 – DRAW
Dec 11: Juventus 2 Man City 0 – DEFEAT
TOTAL – WINS 1, DRAWS 2, DEFEATS 7
“But at the moment it is there and more than ever I am there — no doubt about that.”
Guardiola knows the incredible run of defeats — as many as City suffered in their previous 105 games — is not down to a lack of inspiration from the dugout.
It is down to a horrendous casualty list, the long-term loss of key figures — none more than Rodri — and a schedule that would put a pack mule on its back.
There is one thing when I would say, ‘Pep, you have to think about it’. And that’s when I lose the team.
Pep Guardiola
He added: “I don’t know what would have happened with all the players there… with Rodri there, with Phil Foden there, with Oscar Bobb there, with the four central defenders there. I don’t know what position we would be in.
“I can imagine what it would be but I cannot prove it, right? We’d be a better team, everybody knows, but the reality is the complete opposite.
“In the past maybe we would go the whole season and losing seven didn’t happen. But it’s football, it’s life.
“Tell me a month ago, when we were top of the league and unbeaten, we were going to lose seven and I’d say, ‘Are you crazy? It’s not going to happen to my team’.
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“But it’s happened — and maybe we are going to lose more. And the reason why is the schedule.
“Rodri played 75 games last season. He won the Euros with Spain, got injured with Spain and came back. Do you feel he was fresh for this year? No.
“As strong as he is, he came back tired. But I needed him against Arsenal, even though he was not at the top.
“Normally when you have a game, the day after is recovery and the ones who didn’t play the day before train.
“But we have seven, eight or nine out. We’re not the best right now because we don’t have the players. We have made a lot of mistakes but we don’t have time. We have to practise, you have to know.
“To be a writer, it’s not necessary to read books, you have to practise to write a novel, unless you are William Shakespeare! After that, you don’t need anything.”
Yet for all the reasons, all the injuries, Guardiola needs no telling that ultimately the buck stops with him.
To be a writer, it’s not necessary to read books, you have to practise to write a novel, unless you are William Shakespeare! After that, you don’t need anything.
Pep Guardiola
And the bottom line is City have not been good enough.
Bragging rights from the Manchester derby would be a start, if little more than a sticking plaster on a gaping wound.
He admitted: “We don’t have a defence, my friends. We’ve lost too many games when this happened. All the criticisms and judging, it’s deserved.
“You can share opinions and listen to opinions but in the end it’s you that has to make them. It’s on me — that’s why I am well paid.
“If I don’t want that, all the comments after the games, I have to get another job — it’s not new.”
Fortunately for City, he has no intention of doing so just yet. At least that’s one bright spot, anyway.
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