ERLING HAALAND claims he is responsible for Manchester City's dismal slump.
The £51.4million Norwegian striker insists the players still have full confidence in under-fire boss Pep Guardiola – despite a NINTH defeat in 12 games yesterday.
And City's number 9 admitted: 'I haven't been good enough and haven't performed for City this season. I have to do better.
“I look at myself, I didn't do things well enough, I didn't score my chances. It's not good enough from me.”
Haaland, 24, has scored an impressive 108 goals in 122 City games but has found the net just once in his last six games.
He added: “We can't win games anymore, we can't control them like we used to.
“We used to have much more control over them. But in decisive moments I fail to score and I will do everything I can to turn this around.
“We know how important trust is and it affects every person.
“That's the way it is, we have to stay positive, even if it is difficult.”
This is the worst run of ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola's entire managerial career.
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But Haaland added: “We still believe in him. He won the Premier League six times in seven years, so we'll never forget that.
“He will find the solutions. He has done that every year.
“We have to work harder than ever. We just lost a game, another one.”
Defeat leaves the four-in-a-row champions in sixth place in the table – NINE points behind leaders Liverpool, who have TWO games in hand.
Goals from Jhon Duran and former Etihad hopeful Morgan Rogers put Villa two ahead.
Before Phil Foden opened his account for the season with a late consolation goal.
Guardiola admits there is no defense for his side's shocking form but does not blame Haaland.
He said: “I don't agree with him. Without Erling we would be even worse.
“But I like players to be like that. It's our only chance to get better.
“There are two options – I judge myself, the only other situation is guilt.
“I don't agree with Erling because he has tried and he has to get the ball in the right places.
“I have never pointed at players in nine years because that would be easy for me.
“We fell as a team in the second half, but not from a specific player.
'Now we have to recover. We are struggling to score and are conceding goals.
“We have no defense for it and the results are not good.
“It's not about me, it's about what we can do to get the results back.”
Villa chief Unai Emery admitted his side felt City were lacking in confidence.
He said: “We did a fantastic job with the chances we created. While confidence increased for us, confidence decreased for them.”
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