Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan, left, and Brighton’s Yasin Ayari fight for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Manchester City at Falmer Stadium in Brighton, England, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Manchester City’s Ruben Dias on Monday was defiant in the face of criticism that the team is going through after losing 4 matches in a row, the first for manager Pep Guardiola in his 17-year coaching career.
“I would say, please doubt us, doubt us, feel welcome to do so. When we did the treble, we even called it the dark January. We had a tough period. But it is what it is. What matters is how you bounce back from these moments. That’s why our team has won so much because in moments of difficulty, the characters come up and we stay together,” the centre-back said.
“We don’t find people to kill, we find people to bring into the cause and fight together. That’s what we need to do once again. Until it’s done, it’s not done,” he added.
After losing to Brighton on Saturday, their second straight loss in the Premier League after that shock defeat to Bournemouth on November 2, defending champions City find themselves 5 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool.
These added to their shocking results in Europe and League cup where they were thrashed 4-1 by new Manchester United and then Sporting boss Ruben Amorim in the Champions League and were also dumped out by Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.
Last Saturday after the loss to Brighton, Guardiola conceded the Premier League title.
“Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserves it,” Guardiola told BBC Sport.
“We are not able to play a complete 90 minutes right now,” he told BBC Match of the Day. “We played a really good first half and had moments in the second half. We lost again, so we need to clear our heads, go into the international break, and hopefully our players come back fit,” he added.
City’s campaign has been hindered by a rash of injuries with Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Oscar Bobb among those facing spells on the sidelines.
They host Spurs in the league on Nov. 23 in their first game back after the international break.
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First uploaded on: 12-11-2024 at 16:55 IST
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