Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are in a dire situation and one of their biggest challenges as they are gripped in a six-game winless run ahead of their battle against Liverpool on Sunday.
The Spainard is also insistent he is up for the challenge to steady the ship.
A loss at Anfield this weekend would see Guardiola’s charges fall 11 points adrift of the table-topping Reds in the Premier League title race, but he has reiterated he is looking at the total scale as opposed to the implications attached to the game.
“Of course, I am thinking what I can do to help them [the players] but in the long career as a player and a manager you live these situations,” stated Guardiola.
“When you live it – accept it and challenge it. No complaining, no blaming, no pointing the figure or running from your responsibility.
“If you don’t win, you’re in trouble, I know that.
“The moment I feel I am not positive for the club, another one [manager] will come but I want the opportunity to try it and I want to rebuild the team in many aspects from now on until the end of the season and the next seasons.
“I ask for that challenge and this opportunity to do it.
“I know what we need, what we have to do. We don’t have the consistency we had right now but which team during 10 years in the world has been consistent, tell me one. They don’t exist – not in NBA, tennis, golf.
“It proves how we are as sportsmen and competitors. It is easiest when you have 10, 12 games in a row and everyone is fit and in their prime. I have to prove myself now.
“I have to find a solution and a way to do it and I am trying every day.”
A 4-0 thumping in the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at The Etihad last weekend was the third successive Premier League loss for the defending champions and a defeat at Anfield would be their first four-game losing streak in the top flight since 2007.
A negative result would also eclipse their total number of losses from the whole 2023-24 season.
Although, City fans can have confidence in the fact that their side have climbed back from deficits of eight points or more to win the league four times with Guardiola as their gaffer.
However, a defeat on Sunday would make City’s title hopes “more difficult,” as admitted by Guardiola, the 53-year-old echoed that he was not thinking of trophies.
“In the situation we’re in, it’s not realistic to think about big targets. The situation is to think about the next game and getting the momentum to continue and that will come back.
“I have learned all my life to move forward in the good moments and the bad moments.
“It’s how many times you stand up when again and again you fall.
“We will be back, I know that. I don’t know when that is – the truth,” he added.
