Pep Guardiola insisted he “will not give up” in his bid to turn Manchester City’s fortunes around after a draw with Everton left the club with just one win in their last 13 games in all competitions.
City drew 1-1 at home to Everton on Boxing Day and finished seventh. They are five points behind the top four and 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
Guardiola revealed this week that City are at risk of missing out on Champions League qualification this season, which would be a shocking change to the current Champions League fixtures.
The 53-year-old, who signed a two-year contract extension last month, said his frustration over poor results had not affected his desire to get City back to their previous best.
“I’m not giving up. I want to do it and given the situation we’re in, we have to do it,” Guardiola said after Thursday’s game.
“Of course I want it. Everyone wants it. I don’t want to disappoint my people, either on the part of the club, on the side of the fans or on the side of the people who love this club.”
Guardiola said his side’s shock result – the worst record of his illustrious managerial career – helped him realize just how good they were on their way to an unprecedented fourth successive Premier League title.
“It makes me remember how good things used to be,” he said. “It’s true. I realize now what we’ve accomplished, sometimes with injuries, but how incredibly consistent we’ve been for so long.”
“But yes, you expected a bit of a drop. We didn’t expect much (of this). The main reason is that we had seven or eight important players injured.
“But I can see the discipline and focus of the team and I watched (Saturday’s) game, I saw it and unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
Guardiola shook his head when asked whether his team’s struggles had made him more determined to please people.
“I think since the start of my career as a footballer, as a manager, all of us in our workplace want to please people and do our jobs well. That’s undeniable. I’d say it’s a question mark.”
The next few weeks could be the best time for City to right the ship. Sunday’s game at Leicester City is the first of four league games against bottom-tier sides.
