Pep Guardiola is in unprecedented territory. With Manchester City having gone winless in their last seven outings, the Spaniard is not too optimistic about his side’s chances in the Premier League title race claiming it would be a ‘big mistake’ to even think about it.
“After the results in the past to think about a big target [winning Premier League] would be a big mistake. We need to beat a team close to us and take advantage to be closer to the top four.
“We are not far away from being the second team in the league but it is all about consistency. Liverpool as a team has been magnificent and you just have to fight and win games. Step by step we have to move forward,” said Guardiola in a press conference.
A sequence of six defeats and a draw followed after a series of injuries to key personnel and has taken the shine off what had been a positive first three months to the season for the defending champions. Guardiola remained adamant that this City team is more than capable of playing at the same level they displayed last season when the side had not lost a game after December, had they not been plagued with injuries.
“With all the squad this season we would be close to the level we reached last season. In January we will talk internally as it depends on the situation we are in at that moment,” he said.
Guardiola also spoke about his and the players’ mindset ahead of Wednesday’s clash against Nottingham Forest claiming the team does not feel sorry for themselves.
“Thinking the next one. [When we] won a lot of games we think of the next one and it’s the same – we try the same to clean the heads,” he pointed out. Try and make a good selection of how we have to play. “I can’t think of another way. We don’t feel sorry for ourselves, it is what it is. We have to accept it,” Guardiola added.