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Ahead of their first match in the Premier League in the year 2025, a home fixture versus West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, made a big statement about accepting blame for the club’s recent slump in all competitions. Following their win away at Leicester City in the Premier League at the end of last year, only the second in 14 matches, the 53-year-old remarked that he couldn’t lift his players over the last couple of months, which is the reality.
Notably, the recent run of poor results with Manchester City is the worst in the managerial career for Pep Guardiola, which has lasted for the better part of last two decades including stay at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. With that, defending Premier League champions have languished to sixth place on the standings with 31 points in 19 matches, including six defeats over the last couple of months.
I blame [myself]. It's not to say, 'oh how nice is Pep' - it's the truth: Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola spoke at the press conference - in the build-up to the West Ham United clash at home - about how their lean patch in all competitions came to be apart from taking responsibility for it. He was quoted as saying, as per BBC Sport, “There are many, many things [involved in being a manager] and I missed something - something I am not doing well. In the end, when you lose a lot of games it is an incredible responsibility for the manager to take. There is something the team needs and confidence and I was not able to do it.”
The Spaniard wasn’t happy that he hasn’t been able to change the fortunes of the club recently, which has led to their title challenge starting to fizzle out. He said, “The call is on me first, it's not the players. They naturally drop a little bit and that is normal. It happened a little bit last season as well. With this consistency [of results] I should have found it, and that is why we're in this position. I blame [myself]. It's not to say, 'oh how nice is Pep' - it's the truth. I lead that group of players and I could not lift them. This is the reality.”
After taking on West Ham United in the Premier League later today, Pep Guardiola’s men will begin their FA Cup campaign against Salford City at home on Saturday, January 11.
