Pep Guardiola admitted that Manchester City has lost the anxiety factor while they go into a discouraging series of competitions that could define their top four hope.
The next six games of City are against the rest of the current Top six-plus Tottenham next month away and Guardiola is concerned about their ability to handle the 'large stages' after the capitulation on Wednesday in Paris Saint-Germain.
The Catalan, who is standing opposite the former assistant Enzo Maresca's Chelsea on Saturday, suggested that tactics used by opposition coaches no longer exists the atmosphere of the city.
“In the past, a team never managed to manage us,” said Guardiola. 'I remember that everyone here came to the Etihad and stayed behind.
“The first team I saw was Neil Warnock at Cardiff. And then (Gian Piero) Gasperini with Atalanta. Now everyone does it. Everyone comes here, it doesn't matter, man for humans. They just jump to Nummeron or Stefan (Ortega).
“You have to adjust, do it better, otherwise you will not be eligible for the Champions League.”
While he claimed that extra pace would help his team, Guardiola insisted that the problems of the city, which was bare in Paris, were almost exclusively an abuse of possession that aggravates existing defensive problems.
“We have to pass the ball more,” he added. 'We want to run too fast, take the actions without our calmness. If you have the ball and do not go to your partner well, everything is so difficult.
'You lose balls that normally did not happen in the past and you have to run more, more duels and we are not good at that. Look at the team: Savinho, Doku, Kevin, even Phil and Gundo now. Every team in the 20 in the Premier League is better than we do.
'Three months ago I smelled that we will suffer this season and it happened and it will happen. When you said: “After the city of Ipswich, they are back” or “against Leicester, they are back”, it still takes time. We will really come back next season. Now it is a question to survive, to qualify. '
Guardiola agreed that the qualification for next year's Champions League would feel like a trophy and sympathized with ex-manchester United boss Jose Mourinho when in 2018 he was one behind City as one of his best performance as a manager.
'There are seasons where there are many problems. How do you get up? I remember Jose, I don't know the reality of United, but he often said that the second in that season was the greatest success. I fully understand. When Rodri is here, when defenders are here, when many players are playing there, we will fight. '
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