Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that it was expected his team would hit a bad patch at some point, Afrosport reports.
The Citizens are on a run of five consecutive defeats in all competitions and three in the Premier League after Saturday’s 4-0 loss at home to Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
It marked the worst run in the illustrious managerial career of Guardiola who says that after so many years of dominance, a period of struggle would surface.
“We are playing a little bit in our thoughts, but it’s normal. Football is a sense of mood and when you win a lot it gives you the self-awareness that you can do it,” the Catalan told the club website.
“And when you lose three in a row in the Premier League, that situation it’s always a little bit there.
“There are many things that are going to happen that we need to do to break the results as much as possible to get more positive and confident.
“At the same time, being here for eight years, I knew that sooner or later we would drop.
“Of course we never expect to lose three Premier League games in a row. In that time we always expected a drop, but we were incredibly consistent.”
5 – Manchester City are the first reigning top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/iwhPdDRoFC
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 23, 2024
He added: “We are not used to losing so many games in a row. That’s happened. We have to do everything to change, especially the next one.
“The exception is the reality we lived for eight years is not determined. Sometimes it happens and sometimes you drop a little bit, it’s happened right now.
“But at the end of the day, I would say that what we have done for many years here, it’s my way, the way I like to play, but now we have a period, you cannot run away.”
Guardiola will hope the losing streak can come to an end when City host Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday night.