90min

Pep Guardiola Struggling to Understand Why Manchester City Are Losing Games

By Tom Gott

Pep Guardiola is struggling to understand why City have struggled this year
Pep Guardiola is struggling to understand why City have struggled this year / Pool/Getty Images
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he can't explain why he has picked up more losses this year than in any other campaign of his professional career.

City's 1-0 loss to Southampton was their third straight loss away from home - the first time Guardiola has overseen such a run - and their nine losses this season is more than he has ever suffered in a single year.

Before this season, he had never lost more than the six league games he lost during his first year with City. After the latest loss, Guardiola was perplexed as he insisted his side aren't playing badly enough to be struggling so much.

"We played more than good but it is not enough to win the games," he said (via BBC Sport). "We cannot say we are not a team who score goals this season. We are leading in goals. We create a lot of chances. We are a team who concede less - no team conceded as few chances as us but we lost a lot of games.

"It's difficult even for me to find a reason why but you have to insist and talk abut the game, the way they play and try to do more, concede as few as possible and score up front."

Guardiola has never had such a statistically poor season
Guardiola has never had such a statistically poor season / Robin Jones/Getty Images

Guardiola now faces the job of trying to help City bounce back from this hugely disappointing campaign.

Their recent 4-0 win over champions Liverpool proved that City are still more than good enough to compete for the title, and Guardiola stated that he is positive his side will be back in the title race soon enough.

"I have confidence we can do it because we are the same guys and we did it in previous seasons," he added. "This season the way we are playing is quite similar but it is not enough to win the games."

City are still on track for the treble
City are still on track for the treble / Robin Jones/Getty Images

Despite all the turmoil, City are still on track for a treble. They have already won the Carabao Cup and are through to the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and they also boast a 2-1 aggregate lead over Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16.

City also won the Community Shield at the start of the season, so you could argue that they're on for the quadruple if you count that trophy, but let's face it, nobody does.

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