Wenslus Murape
MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola says he is “fine” despite admitting his sleep and diet are being affected by the worst run of results in his entire managerial career.
In an interview with former Italy international Luca Toni for Amazon Prime Sport before last Wednesday’s Champions League defeat by Juventus, Guardiola touched on the personal impact City’s sudden downturn in form has had.
Guardiola said his state of mind was “ugly”, that his sleep was “worse” and he was eating lighter as his digestion had suffered. City go into today’s derby against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium having won just one of their past 10 games. The Juventus loss means there is a chance they may not even secure a play-off spot in the Champions League.
Asked to elaborate on his comments to Toni, Guardiola said: “I’m fine. In our jobs, we always want to do our best or the best as possible.
“When that doesn’t happen, you are more uncomfortable than when the situation is going well, always that happened. In good moments, I am happier but when I get to the next game, I am still concerned about what I have to do. There is no human being who makes an activity and it doesn’t matter how they do.”
Guardiola said City have to defend better and “avoid making mistakes at both ends”. To emphasise his point, Guardiola referred back to the third game of City’s current run, against a Sporting side managed by Ruben Amorim, who will be in the United dugout tonight. City dominated the first half in Lisbon, led thanks to Phil Foden’s early effort and looked to be cruising. Instead, they conceded three times in 11 minutes either side of half-time as Sporting eventually ran out 4-1 winners.
“I would like to play the game like we played in Lisbon on Sunday (today), believe me,” said Guardiola.
If there is solace for City, it comes from the knowledge United are not exactly flying. Their comeback Europa League victory against Viktoria Plzen was their third win of Amorim’s short reign, so far, but only one of those successes has come in the Premier League, where United have lost their past two games against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. Nevertheless, Guardiola can see improvements already on the red side of the city.
“It’s already there,” he said.
“You see all the patterns, the movements, the runners and the pace.”
Guardiola said skipper Kyle Walker has been offered support by the club after the City defender highlighted the racial abuse he had received on social media in the wake of the Juventus trip.
“It’s unacceptable,” he said.
“Not because it’s Kyle — for any human being. Unfortunately, it happens many times in the real world. It is not necessary to say he has the support of the entire club. It is completely unacceptable and we give our support to him.” — BBC
Online Reporter
