Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City side have abandoned their principles in the last month - but all they have to do to regain confidence is to keep things simple.
Guardiola takes his downbeat City squad to Juventus in the Champions League this week before returning for a crunch derby against Manchester United, both huge games with neither of their opponents having particularly good seasons either.
City have won one in nine, their worst ever run under Guardiola, and their Premier League title hopes are at risk along with their chances of avoiding a Champions League play-off. But Guardiola says he cannot think too far ahead, and simply wants to win a single game before looking at the bigger picture.
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Guardiola started his pre-match press conference at Juventus' Allianz Stadium in moody fashion. Short, blunt answers. Not willing to expand. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
But then he started to talk about something he's tried to avoid in recent weeks. Not just how City have stopped winning, but why. And it was fascinating.
"What will save us is the way we play," he said. "The mistakes are consequences because we're not playing the way we have to play.
"Now we attack so quick, a lot of things not in the right tempo and lose the ball and after concede transitions. In that, any team is better than us. We have to be so simple."
Explaining how City can put that into practice, Guardiola continued: "Our strength is the ball. Our success in our eight, nine years, we run like a desperate team when we don't have the ball, and with the ball is be incredible patient. Let them run and run and don't make incredible recovery.
"We adjust some things mentally, but the way we are going to play isn't going to be changed for obvious reasons. Our success was there, I know when we're able to do it we are able to play good even in the situations of the last month."
The manager strongly insisted the recent mistakes are not a mental issue. "It's about to do the simple things better. It's not a mental thing. They are professionals. Always.", he said.
Defender Ruben Dias went further, telling his teammates to go 'back to basics'.
"I believe in his words," the centre-back said in response to Guardiola's 'simple' message. "It’s time to stick together. Our process has done some magic over the years and it’s a time to stay strong. Back to basics.
"Our way has always been the same. If we’re on a good level nobody can stop us. Injuries happen but we know if we have everyone available – even without everyone available – we can be very dangerous. In this moment in time I believe it is about keeping believing in ourselves. Don’t get dragged down by whatever happened."
It seems, for the first time in a few weeks, that the City camp are on the same page again. Keep things simple, in order to regain confidence, and the results will come.
Guardiola did offer some more thoughts on the idea that 'confidence' is a simple fix, though, underlining his belief that simplicity must be mastered first.
"We have to face the problems and the tense results. And go for it," he explained. "The confidence regaining the ball is the simple thing. Confidence in a game is when you have one or two or three actions in one game. And the actions are good.
"Confidence is not, 'oh, you have to have confidence.' It's not about that. If I have an action, defensive or offensive. I win that duel. I have the ball. Simple things. Two or three simple things. I do it. I have the confidence. So, at the end, people believe it's so difficult. No, it's not difficult. You have to do the simple things."