Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has played down concerns over his team’s recent form, insisting they are not in a “big mess” despite losing five straight games.
City’s latest defeat came at the hands of Tottenham, who thrashed them 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. The loss marked City’s fifth consecutive defeat, leaving them eight points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
However, Guardiola remains calm and is urging his players to focus on their next game. “I don’t know what a good season would look like from this point,” he said. “By our standards, it will be a bad season. We come from there [top] so we can only go down if we lose.”
Guardiola also stressed that City need to “change less than ever” and instead focus on their principles. “We had 26 shots against Spurs. We had more expected goals than them, we created a lot of chances. But there are departments where we’re not strong enough and that’s why when we lose in certain situations they’re stronger than us.”
City will hope to end their five-game losing streak when they host Feyenoord at the Etihad in their next Champions League game on Tuesday. After that, they travel to Liverpool on Sunday in a crunch Premier League clash.
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