Foden sheds light on what Pep Guardiola is really like in the dressing room

Manchester City star Phil Foden has shed light on Pep Guardiola's dressing room personality amid the club's poor run of form.

The champions are winless in six games, with five defeats in that period in all competitions.

It is City's worst run of form since 2006 and the worst run of Guardiola's 16-year managerial career.

Guardiola's men travel to Anfield to take on league leaders Liverpool on Sunday, and Foden revealed what the Catalan manager is like in a football environment and on a personal level ahead of the showdown.

The England international also stressed that City's hunger remains despite winning four consecutive Premier League titles.

“He is fiery – at the right times,” Foden said of Guardiola in an interview with the Times. 'But he also has a very nice side to him that you don't see very often as a person in the documentary. He is caring.

'It's just the way we are. When we lose, we have meetings as a team, you know, “it's not right, we have to put things right,” so it's just our mentality.

'When I look around the dressing room, I know that the mentality is good. Our hunger is still there, which is nice to see after winning so much. That could easily not be the case, but the hunger is certainly still there.”

Guardiola is contracted to Etihad until 2027, after extending his contract for two years less than two weeks ago.

The 53-year-old insisted he will not run away from the team's problems as he claimed chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak will have to make a decision on his future if the decline continues.

“People say, 'Pep, why isn't he in trouble? Why isn't he fired?' But what we have done in the last eight years is the reason why I have this margin,” Guardiola said.

'The people here trust me. The moment I feel like I'm not positive for the club, another one comes along. The club will make the solution, the decision they have to make.

'But I wanted the opportunity. I wanted the chance to try it. I don't want to run away. I want to be there.

“I want to rebuild the team in many ways from now until the end of the season and next season, to try to continue there. I have to prove myself now.'

A loss at Anfield leaves City 11 points behind Liverpool and Guardiola suggested the gap could be too big to close.

“With the situation we have it is not realistic to think of a big, big goal,” he added of the title race.

'The result won't change anything. The mood would be better, but if you are not stable after three days against Nottingham Forest… you are stable if you win 10 or 12 games in a row, as we have done for so many years.

'One match now won't change the feeling of how we are as a team.

'The only thing I would ask for is not the result, but the players coming back. I'm just asking the players back to let the team we created at the start of the season go wherever we go to be who we are.

'We couldn't do that from the start of the season. That's the situation we had. When people ask me what I want, to win competitions? Yes, but if we don't have the players, sooner or later we will fall again.

'Rodri's not here. What should you do? Crying all the time because Rodri isn't there? Or because the four central defenders have not been there for a long time in the past month.

'I have to find a solution. I have to find a way to do it. And this is: I try every day.'