Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists he is to blame for the club's wretched recent form, not his players.

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• City currently sixth
• 14 points behind leaders Liverpool
• Have only won one of last five

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Guardiola has refused to blame City's squad for a run of form that has seen them slip to sixth in the Premier League table. The club have won just one of their last five games in the league and Guardiola has already conceded the Premier League title, but he maintains it is not the fault of his players.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  City did get back to winning ways last week with a victory over Leicester City, and face West Ham this weekend in another game they will expect to win, but Guardiola claims there is "something" he is "not doing well" as they continue to falter.

• WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID

  Guardiola told reporters: “I’m unbelievably honest with myself for the reason why we have arrived here and it is me. It’s not the players. They naturally drop a little bit and that is normal. It happened a little bit last season as well.

  “But with this consistency [of results], I should have found it and that is why we’re in this position. I blame myself. I lead that group of players and I could not lift them. This is the reality. Why in the past they followed me, were they able to get results? We were the only unbeaten team in Europe and top of the league. Immediately we went down.

  “For injuries, many things we’ve talked about. But even with that, I should have found a way to get better results. Hopefully we can continue now.”

  Asked to diagnose the problem, he added: “Many things. The manager isn’t just four at the back, five at the back, two strikers, it’s many things,” he said. “There is something I miss, something I’m not doing well. At the end, when you lose a lot of games, there is an incredible responsibility for the manager to feel something the team needs for its confidence. And I was not able to do it.

  “We got the result [at Leicester] but no more than that. Listen, all of us – me as the first, and all of us – we know our level. How is the team compared to the last eight years? We are not there. I’m not denying. One result is not going to change my perspective on how is the team right now. But, at the same time, hopefully results can help with our belief and composure.”

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  WHAT NEXT?

  City face West Ham this weekend before taking on Salford City in the third round of the FA Cup.

Tags: Futebol
Category: News