Pep Guardiola has admitted that he isn’t surprised by Manchester City’s struggles.
City have enjoyed much success under Guardiola and have become accustomed to long winning streaks.
However, matters have taken a turn for the worse of late, with City losing their last five games in all competitions.
Guardiola’s side were thrashed 4-0 at home by Tottenham on Saturday as their hopes of retaining the Premier League title suffered another blow.
Prior to that, City had been beaten by Brighton, Sporting and Bournemouth as well as suffering another defeat against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup.
Guardiola expressed his belief that it was inevitable that City would endure a difficult period at some stage.
City will be determined to bounce back when they host Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola has admitted that he isn’t surprised by Manchester City’s struggles
City suffered their fifth defeat in succession as they were beaten by Tottenham
As reported by The Mirror, Guardiola said: ‘It’s not like we’ve been like this for years, but I said before that sooner or later it should have happened.
‘I know we won and won again, but sooner or later you have this situation for many reasons, little reasons why.
‘It’s not ‘this is the reason why’, it’s little things going wrong from the beginning of the season that are getting worse. Now we have to face it. You cannot say anything, the situation is where you have to keep going my friends, keep going. We’ve done it in the past. Not as bad as now in terms of results, but we have done it and faced the situation and moved forward.’
Guardiola stated that it is now his duty to help City return to winning ways.
Guardiola said: ‘We don’t expect to lose important games many times, but it has happened and we have to find a way.
‘When we started to lose, I said to people ‘I have to find a way’. I have to. It’s my duty and responsibility to find a way to be more consistent, get better and win games.
After the game against Sporting, City face an intriguing clash away to Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola stressed that he now has to find a way to improve City’s fortunes
Liverpool have already established an eight point lead at the top of the table and defeat for City would make it extremely difficult for them to challenge for the title.
Guardiola recently ended speculation over his future by signing a new two-year contract that is set to run until the summer of 2027.
However, he faces one of the biggest tests of his managerial career as he looks to reverse City’s fortunes.
The absence of Rodri, who is set to miss the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, has heavily affected City and Guardiola’s team have also had to cope with other key absences.