Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, claims that his players are suffering from a never-before-six-game losing streak, but that he can count on them to turn things around.
Just days after Guardiola signed a new two-year contract with the club, the team suffered a crushing defeat at home against Tottenham.
Before Sheikh Mansour began his trophy-filled ownership, it was City's heaviest home defeat since 2003 and their first time losing five games in a row since 2006.
In his entire managerial career, Guardiola has never lost five straight games.
Following the Reds' 3-2 victory at Southampton on Sunday, City is eight points clear of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
"I trust these players more than ever", said Guardiola.
"I've never seen a player in my life who wants to perform poorly to the fans or for the club." Nobody wants it, really.
" When they are in front of 60, 000 people they want to perform well. But for many reasons, it hurts. "
Guardiola has pledged to solve City's issues, but it is unclear how he will accomplish it given his crucial trip to Liverpool the following weekend following Tuesday's Champions League game against Dutch side Feyenoord.
Rodri, the award-winning midfielder for Croatia and Mateo Kovacic, both missed out on the award, leaving City's injured-hit defense vulnerable to too many attacks.
Tottenham arrived with a game plan on Saturday to isolate City's full-backs and strain the central positions by getting the ball wide to Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski as soon as possible.
Kulusevski claimed this game represented "the best result ever in my career" and that he was looking forward to the challenge more than any other game this year.
For City, the experience was more depressing.
" At the moment we are not solid enough, that is the truth, "added Guardiola.
I have spent time there as a football player, but I won't say a word about it. They are not, ' hey it doesn't matter'. You want to do well but you have doubts. "
Guardiola's appreciation comes from the conviction that his team plays well for extended periods of time during games.
He believed that if Erling Haaland had taken one of his two opening chances early, the outcome would have been significantly different against Tottenham.
He will also hope that John Stones, who was given a 45-minute suspension at the weekend, will be fitter for the trip to Liverpool, and that some central defence options will be made available thanks to Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol's personally disappointing displays against Spurs.
It is reasonable to assume that a person as determined and persistent as Guardiola will not give a lowly evaluation of the situation overall.
" When we started to lose, I said to people, 'we have to find a way', "he said". That is my duty.
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