Guardiola vows to fix Manchester City concerns
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists he will find the solution to their winless run after Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw against Southampton.
Kelechi Iheanacho cancelled out Nathan Redmond’s first-half opener to ensure City returned to the top of the table on goal difference, but they have now failed to win any of their last five games in all competitions.
The drop in form is in stark contrast to their early performances, when City won 10 matches in a row and scored 30 goals, but Guardiola – who kept his players in the dressing room for more than 40 minutes after the match – has vowed to iron out any problems.
“You can win 10 times and then you are not able to win five times,” he said. “I have to discover the reason why and I am going to find that.
“We are together. We spoke about the situation we have. We try to go up.”
We didn’t get what we set out to obtain, but we’re still in the race. There’s room for growth and we’ve got the drive for it. C’mon, City!
— Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) October 23, 2016
Redmond’s goal came after an error from City’s defence, when John Stones passed square behind Vincent Kompany and into the Southampton man’s path.
Guardiola conceded this week that mistakes have been costing his side of late:Â Aleksandar Kolarov scored an own goal in the defeat to Tottenham, both Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne missed penalties in the 1-1 draw with Everton, and Claudio Bravo’s handball and red card helped Barcelona to a 4-0 Champions League win this week.
Guardiola, however, says his players’ reaction to their mistakes is the key issue that must be addressed.
“Mistakes are not the reason – not Kolarov’s own goal at Spurs or missed penalties,” he said. “There is something about how you react in situations.
“We had problems creating our build-up. There is a difference between the first and second half. Unfortunately, we could not win.”
