Manchester City F.C.
·25 de dezembro de 2024
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Yahoo sportsManchester City F.C.
·25 de dezembro de 2024
Pep Guardiola says he remains confident that he will find the solution to help City out of our difficult run of form.
His defending Premier League champions have endured a testing couple of months, slipping down the top-flight table and towards the lower end of the play-off qualification spots in the UEFA Champions League.
Having won 18 major honours in eight and a half years at the Etihad and overseen an unprecedented era of domestic dominance, Guardiola has already cemented his status as one of the greatest managers in the history of English football.
Asked in his press conference before our Boxing Day clash with Everton whether he was worried he wouldn’t find a solution to his latest challenge, the Catalan was resolute in his response.
“No. I'm so positive in that,” he stated.
“Of course there are doubts about if a decision is not good or we have to do this or that but I’m so positive. We make the ordinary the extraordinary in the past.
“People at the beginning of the season started saying ‘City are going to win the Premier League in November’. The people think it's ordinary to win and win when it’s something extraordinary.
“Now it's a little bit the opposite, because it’s extraordinary to lose a lot of games. Some of them could have not happened, we played more than well enough to [take points]. It happens for a reason.
“Even when we won I didn’t take it for granted.
“Every situation in life you make new experiences and know what you could have done better and what you could do better in the future.”
Guardiola also refused to lay the blame for our recent struggles at the feet of his players, stating that everyone at the club is working together to steady the ship and return to winning ways.
“It would be easy for me to say that the reason why is the players. It would be completely unfair,” he began.
“They tried and they are not able but it happened because of many situations and they are suffering and they want to do it to get back.
“It would be easy to clean my face. They tried and we are not able to do it together.
“There are many reasons. I could say for myself that the reason is Pep. We have won six in seven years, why should it happen now?
“There are a lot of things since the start of the season that haven’t gone well. Most of the power is ours and we have to fix it, this is the point.”
Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from the Etihad in one place.
Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at around 11:15 (UK).
Paul Dickov and Steve Howey will be the guests on the latest Matchday Live show, offering their expert insight before, during and after the action.
During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison while our text commentary continues.
Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.
Short highlights from the match will be available from 17:15 (UK), whilst extended highlights from the encounter and a full-match replay [available on CITY+] can be accessed from midnight.