PEP GUARDIOLA has found Manchester City's current slump difficult to swallow.
The Catalan admitted that a run like this can affect everything – from the amount of sleep he gets to his diet.
Lately he's only been eating soup for dinner because nerves are making it difficult for him to digest much else.
With his children grown and his wife Cristina back in Barcelona, Pep admits being a coach during a bad run can be a lonely job.
He said this week: “You have people on your side, but the pain of defeat only happens to one.
'It's true that your friends are there, but when you go to sleep and turn off the light, there is no comfort left.
“You have to take it, spend a day or two and then come back.”
But overall, Guardiola says his state of mind is not much different from that in the spring, when his team were crowned champions for the fourth year in a row.
That's despite a run of seven defeats in the last 10 games – the same number as City suffered in the previous 105 games up to the end of April.
The decline of his all-conquering team was sudden and alarming and left many people scratching their heads.
This includes Pep himself, who appeared at his press conference after the draw with Feyenoord last month with spots on his head and a cut on his nose.
At the time he blamed it on his nails getting too long – although this week he explained there was another factor.
He said: “I have a skin problem. I have had to take antihistamines for the past two or three years. The nails, yes, I put them on my nose. But the rest was.”
Guardiola turns 54 next month and said in a recent interview that he does not have the energy to take on another job at the club after leaving the Etihad.
The question some have been asking since then is whether he has what it takes to do the rebuilding that is needed at City.
Some of the older players who achieved so much before him – such as Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan – are reaching the end of the road.
And now that he has achieved virtually everything he wanted – and even more – with City, some are wondering whether he has the drive to go again.
Yet in the chaos of the past seven weeks, it's easy to forget that in the middle of it all he signed a new two-year contract with Etihad.
It was Pep who indicated he was willing to talk – despite a run of four consecutive defeats before that – and the deal was completed within hours.
Considering what has happened since then and the problems he faces, he may be wondering if he did the right thing.
Those around him say he has no regrets and is more determined than ever to turn the season around.
He accepted the challenge to stay on less than four weeks ago and there's no way he's changed his mind yet.
All season long he had the feeling that this was not the right time to hand over the keys to his successor, and three months later he was sure.
The impending ruling on the 130 charges of financial misconduct played a role as he has previously said he will not abandon the club he loves in times of need.
But the Club World Cup in the US in the summer was also a consideration, as it will make the start of next season extremely difficult.
Guardiola felt he wanted to get City through this difficult period and he remains determined to do so.
Regardless, Pep had predicted this would be a tough start to the season – partly due to the pressure of their recent success and the summer of international duty at the 2024 Euros for most of his stars.
However, he did not expect it to be so tough, as injuries have made the first months of the season even more challenging.
But he remains confident that once his trusted players return, he can turn them into a force again.
Nothing that has happened since things started to unravel in late October has changed his mind.
He said: “With football I have learned not to go against feelings, against what you feel at that moment.
“When I'm sad, I'm sad, but I know it will pass. That's how I see it.”
A derby win over United on Sunday would see them go by very quickly.
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