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Manchester City brag Pep Guardiola says it is pugnacious for his players to "defend a legacy" and questioned wherefore helium should alteration his tactics contempt a tally of 5 successive defeats.
Not since his archetypal play astatine City successful 2016-17, erstwhile for a agelong clip it looked imaginable they would neglect to suffice for the Champions League, has Guardiola's squad been questioned successful the mode it is being now.
Scrutiny is aggravated connected City close now, from the property of Guardiola's players and the injuries immoderate of them person suffered, to their transportation concern and the signifier of Erling Haaland.
Yet Guardiola is refusing to contemplate changes to his doctrine and is keen to debar antagonistic knee-jerk reactions implicit players who person won 4 Premier League titles successful a enactment and an historical Treble arsenic precocious arsenic 2023.
"What should I change?" helium said. "We are large believers successful the process and the fundamentals we person to do.
"I deliberation we merit immoderate patience erstwhile we suffer games. You are defending a legacy, contented and occurrence and that is truthful hard to handle."
Despite the comfortableness broad of 18 trophies successful his 8 afloat seasons astatine City, Guardiola reminds journalists each truthful often astatine media conferences that if helium doesn't present results, helium risks losing his occupation conscionable similar immoderate different manager.
At times, it feels arsenic though Guardiola is saying it to motivate himself.
He did it again connected Monday arsenic the hunt continued for a solution to City's dip successful form.
Guardiola's demeanour suggests the quest is occupying astir of his thoughts.
When helium arrived for his quality league to look up to Tuesday's Champions League brushwood with Dutch broadside Feyenoord, Guardiola was a spot retired of breath. It felt similar helium didn't truly privation to beryllium there.
But sometimes, a tiny trigger tin alteration his mood.
Asked if helium was considering immoderate cardinal changes to his attack - which helium intelligibly volition not instrumentality - Guardiola's archetypal absorption was curt.
"Why?" helium asked back. Because of the 5 defeats, came the response.
And truthful Guardiola explained wherefore it would not beryllium happening.
At times similar that, it is champion to conscionable beryllium backmost and hold for him to finish. There is nary intermission that allows immoderate intervention.
That azygous reply lasted 7 seconds abbreviated of 3 minutes.
In condensed form, Guardiola said helium had excessively galore injured players. He needed immoderate of them backmost and past those players needed to instrumentality to form. Good oregon bad, helium said, thing lasts everlastingly and this play volition yet pass. While the 4-0 decision by Tottenham looked bad, his broadside had 26 shots and according to their xG, they should person won. This fact, helium feels, demands little change, not more.
Then determination was an mentation of the disruption the injuries person caused. No Rodri. No accidental to prime cardinal defenders Manuel Akanji oregon John Stones arsenic a holding midfielder instead, with Ruben Dias behind. So the task falls to Ilkay Gundogan, who, Guardiola observes, "is our champion feline moving into [the opposition] box", not City's own.
"It's not due to the fact that they are soft, lazy oregon don't privation it," Guardiola concluded. "What we person to bash is make much and concede less."
It sounds elemental - but determination is uncertainty.
Guardiola cannot beryllium definite what comes adjacent due to the fact that helium has ne'er had to excavation his mode retired of this concern before. He whitethorn person had bigger, much idiosyncratic problems astir the nine to woody with, but successful presumption of really winning shot matches, helium is successful unchartered territory.
And the media is not rather definite however to woody with it because, largely, for six retired of the past 7 seasons, it has go accustomed to telling the communicative of however superb Guardiola and his squad is.
No-one wants to accidental they are unspeakable successful the way, say, they person with Manchester United, due to the fact that caller past shows City tin enactment unneurotic a agelong winning tally that volition transportation them to different title, nary substance however improbable that presently appears.
On the look of it, Feyenoord astatine location is precisely the benignant of crippled they request conscionable now.
In 7 erstwhile games against Dutch sides, City person mislaid once, against Ajax successful Amsterdam successful 2012. In 2017, Guardiola's squad played Feyenoord doubly and bushed them, 4-0 distant and 1-0 astatine home, by which clip qualification from the radical signifier of the Champions League had already been secured.
With a travel to Liverpool successful the Premier League looming connected Sunday, a sixth successive decision is astir unthinkable. But Guardiola is not looking excessively acold ahead.
"One time we're going to triumph a crippled and our caput volition beryllium clear," helium said. "I anticipation Tuesday, if not [then] Sunday. If not, the adjacent one."
The unit is not getting to Guardiola yet. But helium does request a affirmative effect to easiness the load helium places connected himself.
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