PEP GUARDIOLA has long been in a class of his own when it comes to scoring football firsts, but no one saw this coming.
The sight of Manchester City's manager, a man hailed as the best in the world, talking about lost dressing rooms.
Even more remarkable was that he had brought up the subject himself.
Suddenly seven defeats in ten games were a big deal for the four-time champion. This was even more impressive.
Guardiola spoke of the worst run of his career as a manager and disputed that it has only made him more passionate about the fight.
There is only one defeat that would bring the serial-winning Spaniard to his knees – and it wouldn't be on a pitch.
It's the moment Guardiola suspected his words had fallen on deaf ears. When the players no longer saw him as a footballing Pied Piper. When the locker room was no longer his.
But before City fans start shouting for the Samaritans, the Messiah has seen no sign of it.
But he admits that if he ever does, he'll be out of the Etihad in no time.
Guardiola insisted: “There is one thing where I would say: 'Pep, you have to think about it'. And that's when I lose the team.
“When I feel that they are not running away. When everyone says the manager has lost the team and they don't follow me.
“At that point, I won't be here another minute.
“But right now it's there and more than ever I'm there – there's no doubt about that.”
Guardiola knows that the incredible run of defeats – as many as City suffered in the previous 105 games – is not due to a lack of inspiration from the dugout.
It is thanks to a terrible casualty list, the prolonged loss of key figures – none more so than Rodri – and a plan that would put a pack mule on his back.
He added: “I don't know what would have happened with all the players there… with Rodri there, with Phil Foden there, with Oscar Bobb there, with the four centre-backs there. I don't know what position we would be in.
“I can imagine what it would be, but I can't prove it, right? We would be a better team, everyone knows, but the reality is completely the opposite.
“Before, we might go the whole season and seven losses didn't happen. But it's football, it's life.
“Tell me a month ago, when we were top of the league and undefeated, we would lose seven and I would say, 'Are you crazy?' That won't happen to my team.”
“But it happened – and we may lose more. And the reason why is the schedule.
“Rodri played 75 games last season. He won the European Championship with Spain, got injured with Spain and came back. Do you think it was fresh for this year? No.
“As strong as he is, he came back tired. But I needed him against Arsenal, even though he wasn't at the top.
“Normally the recovery is the day after if you have a match, and those who didn't play the day before train.
“But we have seven, eight or nine out. We are not the best at the moment because we don't have the players. We've made a lot of mistakes, but we don't have time. We have to practice, you have to know.
“To be a writer it is not necessary to read books, you have to practice to write a novel, unless you are William Shakespeare! After that you don't need anything anymore.”
But despite all the reasons and injuries, Guardiola doesn't have to say that it ultimately ends with him.
And the bottom line is that City haven't been good enough.
Bragging rights about the Manchester derby would be a start, albeit little more than a plaster on a gaping wound.
He admitted: “We have no defense, my friends. We lost too many games when this happened. All criticism and judgment, it is deserved.
“You can share opinions and listen to opinions, but ultimately it is you who have to make them. It's my responsibility, that's why I get paid well.
“If I don't want that, all the reactions after the matches will have to look for another job. That is not new.”
Fortunately for City, he doesn't plan to do that yet. In any case, that is a bright spot.
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