Welcome! There is always time for a first time,” says Pep Guardiola. Nobody is more used to winning, because no coach has won as much in the last decade. The resume of the Santpedor coach is far from being able to be compressed into a couple of pages, it would rather be enough for a book. Whether at Barça, Bayern or Manchester City, Guardiola has been synonymous with triumph. After fifteen years in the elite (he has accumulated 940 matches in all competitions) only he can boast of having beaten his rivals 75% of the time (681 wins) and of only knowing defeat in 15% of them, just 112. But a new universe has presented itself before him. For the first time in his career he has suffered four consecutive defeats. A negative streak that he faces with a very eloquent determination.
“This is my challenge, our challenge, and I want to face it. I won’t take a single step back. “More than ever I want to do it,” he says. A statement that comes in the midst of a debate about whether he will extend his commitment to City from June. A decision that should be announced shortly, but that may be delayed due to the winds of change brought by Hugo Viana, new sporting director, and a possible sanction from the Premier League for failing to comply with its financial regulations.
Without four of its central defenders or Rodri, the current Premier champion is already five points behind Liverpool
Two goals in just five minutes from the formidable Brighton left Guardiola with a broken face. His reaction at the end of the match reflected his state of nervousness, when facing a central defender from the rival team to whom, according to him, he gave some advice on how to stop Håland. Before Brighton, City had fallen in the Carabao Cup against Tottenham (1-2), in the Premier League against Bournemouth (2-0) and in the Champions League against Sporting de Portugal (4-1). Four defeats in as many outings with a considerable degree of difficulty. This is mitigated by the fact that they have not been able to count on four of their centre-backs (Ake, Akanji, Stones and Ruben Dias) in this period, nor Rodri (injured for the entire season), nor Doku and Grealish, the starting wingers.
This negative spiral does not seem to overwhelm Guardiola, who asks to focus on the game rather than the results as a basis for regaining optimism. “It is true that at Bournemouth it was unacceptable. But in the rest of the games we were very good. In the Carabao we did very well, there are also many positive things in the Lisbon match. But we lost, and when we lose it seems that my arguments are excuses,” he lamented.
The negative spiral does not seem to overwhelm Guardiola, who asks to focus on the game
The truth is that these defeats have not diminished the team’s objectives this season. City is now five points behind Liverpool in the Premier, a distance that can still be bridged, and in the Champions League it maintains a calm or, at least, reversible position.
Until November 23 there is time to “cleanse our minds and recover our best level,” says the coach. Then, Feyenoord in the Champions League and Liverpool in Anfield, on the first day of December, will define the health of a team that wants to fight for its fifth consecutive league title.
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