Manchester City are in a huge crisis and Pep Guardiola has no answers, says Sky Sports expert Jamie Carragher.
City suffered their seventh defeat in ten matches when they were beaten 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, putting them in danger of failing to qualify for the knockout stages.
That is as many defeats as the Premier League champions had suffered – four years in a row – in their previous 105 games under Guardiola, who is enjoying an unprecedented run of results so soon after signing a two-year contract extension.
Asked what Guardiola must be thinking after the defeat in Turin, the Sky Sports pundit said on CBS: “Why did I sign that contract?” That's what he thinks.
“You can't believe what you're seeing. This is a huge crisis. This was a crisis two or three weeks ago. The greatest manager and most successful manager of all time, and he has no answers for it right now. not.
“He's tried different things, different systems, maybe players in different positions, and a manager as great as him really struggles and finds it difficult.
“He has never experienced this before, so he has no experience with this situation. He has nothing to fall back on and really look back on because he has been so successful in the past. It's a real eye-opener.
“There are probably many coaches around the world who look at Pep with a wry smile. They don't enjoy what he's going through, they just think: 'Finally Pep Guardiola is going through something that we all have at some point in our careers. experienced.' career'.”
Man City's worrying statistics
Pep questions himself after another defeat
Guardiola admitted he is questioning himself after Manchester City's latest defeat.
“Of course I ask myself questions, but I am stable in good and bad moments. I try to find a way to do it. I am incredibly honest. If we play well [I say] We played well and today I thought we played well,” he said.
“Our play will save us. We can do it. We have had few chances compared to the game we won in Nottingham Forest. We are moving at the right pace.
“We missed the last pass and didn't get into the six-yard area [at the right time] or having the calmness at the right time.
“But I love my team. This is life, it happens. Sometimes you have a bad patch, but I'll keep pushing until we get there.”
City now face a difficult trip to Paris Saint-Germain, who are also at risk of failing to qualify, for their home game against Club Brugge next month.
Guardiola accepts that finishing in the top 24 of the Champions League is now the only goal.
He said: “That's the goal. We need one or three points. We'll go to Paris to try and the last game at home.”
Gundogan and Pep disagree about City's problems
Veteran midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said after the match against Juventus that he felt City were suffering from a loss of confidence, but Guardiola dismissed his player's comments.
“I don't agree with Ilkay,” he said. “Of course it is tough, but apart from one or two games in this period we have played well.”
City now face a further test of their resolve when they host rivals Manchester United in a derby on Sunday.
Gündogan told TNT Sports: “It [confidence] is a big part of it. That is also a mental issue.
“You see that sometimes we miss the ball or lose a game and you see that we immediately fall and lose the rhythm [the opponents] It doesn't even have to do much, but it has such a big effect on us right now. They are able to break our rhythm with the smallest thing.
“Even more you have to do the simple things as well as possible and create and make them flow, then it's hard work again. This is how you get the confidence back – do the small and simple things, [but] At crucial moments we always do the wrong things.”
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