Pep Guardiola is enduring the worst statistical run of his managerial career after Manchester City lost their fourth straight game on Saturday.
Brighton came from behind to beat the English champions 2-1 in the Premier League to leave second-placed City five points behind leaders Liverpool.
City hadn’t lost four games in a row in all competitions since 2006 — two years before the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club and 10 years before Guardiola’s game-changing arrival on the blue side of Manchester.
As for Guardiola, widely regarded as the world’s best coach, he had never lost four straight matches anywhere in his illustrious time in management that began in 2007.
The closest he had come was in the 2014-15 season when, at Bayern Munich, his team lost in a penalty shootout in the German Cup followed by three straight defeats — two in the Bundesliga, when Bayern had already clinched the title, and once in the Champions League.
So, Guardiola was asked, is this the end of the era, after leading City to an unprecedented four straight top-flight league titles?
“It’s what the people want, right?” he posed. “That’s normal — we won a lot. I would just like to have all the squad [available].”
That won’t be happening anytime soon considering star centre-midfielder Rodri, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, is out for the season with an ACL injury. Guardiola also had his best four centre-backs — Rúben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké — unavailable, while playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is clearly not sharp or fit enough on his return from injury.
“When we play bad, I am the first to say, ‘Oh, oh, I don’t like it.’ But I don’t have that feeling,” Guardiola said.
Indeed, City were dominant in the first half and went in front when Erling Haaland scored his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign.
However, as in the 4-1 loss at Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, City couldn’t sustain its level in the second half and Brighton fought back, with Joao Pedro equalizing in the 78th and setting up Matt O’Riley for the winner in the 83rd on his Premier League debut.
City’s losing run started at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last week, before a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the league — their first league defeat in 11 months.
For Guardiola, it’s simple. City’s squad cannot cope with all its injuries while the fixtures are coming thick and fast.
“We cannot do it every three days, three days, four days, three days with the [injury] situation we have,” he said, adding with an air of desperation, “I would love to have the players [back].”
Captain Kyle Walker was more blunt on what Man City need to reverse their slump.
“It’s down to us as a group of players to make sure that we’re fighting for this great club,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s tough to take, and I can assure you everyone wants to turn it around as quickly as possible.”
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
