Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has blamed himself for his side's poor run of form until the end of 2024.
The reigning Premier League champions have suffered a dramatic slide from the division's elite in each of the last four seasons. It took a nerve, unconvincing 2-0 win over relegated Leicester City to end their two-month wait for an away win.
Even after the goals of Savinho and Erling Haaland at the King Power Stadium, City have won just two of their previous 14 games in all competitions heading into Saturday's Premier League clash. match against West Ham United outside the top five.
When reflecting on the worst run of form throughout his illustrious managerial career, Guardiola blamed himself. “The call is for me first,” he told the assembled media on Friday. “I'm extremely honest with myself about why we came here and it's me. It's not the players. They naturally fall a bit and that's normal. It happened a bit last season too.
“But with this consistency (results) I should have found him and that's why we're in this position. I blame (myself). It doesn't mean, 'Oh how good Pep is', it's the truth. I manage him group of players and I couldn't lift them, that's the reality.”
The manager, who has signed a contract extension for two years after four consecutive defeats in November, continued: “Why in the past they chased me, they managed to get results? We were the only unbeaten team in Europe and at the top of the league. Immediately we went down. For injuries, many things we have talked about this, but even with that, I should have found a way to get better results.
Guardiola spent most of City's defeat stressing that the team had played well in the match, but only to be undone by the misfortune. However, the manager admitted that his side had the green light in the narrow triumph over Leicester.
“We have to recover our game because we were lucky at Leicester. “Spirit, drive and desire of course, but I know our level because I saw it here in front of my eyes over many, many years and I won't deny myself, the players won't deny themselves the reality.
“It's football, sometimes you know you need a change and something in mind to recover some aspects and lift the team. That's what I need now and that's why the win at Leicester was really, really important. I'm not denying that.”