Pep Guardiola names who is to blame as Man City slump turns into crisis with Man Utd loss

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has shockingly confessed to his own shortcomings in the wake of his side’s devastating 2-1 home defeat to arch-rivals Manchester United. Despite taking the lead with a Josko Gvardiol header, City crumbled in the final moments, conceding two late goals that sealed their fate.

A calamitous back-pass from makeshift left-back Matheus Nunes led to a penalty, coolly slotted by Bruno Fernandes, and Amad Diallo hammered the final nail in the coffin with a winner just moments before full-time.

With this loss marking City’s eighth in 11 games, Guardiola openly admitted his struggle to stem the tide of their ongoing crisis: “I’m the boss, I’m the manager, I have to find solutions but I don’t find solutions.

“This is a big club and when you lose eight of (11) something is wrong. You can say the schedule is tough or the injuries to players, but no.”

His stark self-assessment continued as he expressed his failure to adequately prepare and motivate his team: “I’m the manager and I’m not good enough, simple as that. I have to find a way to talk to them, to train them in the way we need to play, to press the way we need to press. I’m not good enough. I’m not doing well. That is the truth.”

The candid admission comes despite Guardiola’s recent commitment to the club, having signed a new two-year contract during this rough patch.

“I’m here,” he declared. “I’m responsible. It would be easy for me to say we lost because of this action or this player or this situation but football is a team.

“I’m completely convinced in what I’m saying, that I’m not good enough to find a way for them to feel peace in their bodies and their minds. I want it desperately. I’m here to try and I will try again and again but that is the reality.”

After securing his second triumph over Guardiola within weeks, Ruben Amorim was brimming with satisfaction.

“I think we did a great job, we controlled it very well,” the Red Devils boss commented post-match. “We didn’t allow much, of course we don’t create so much either but it was a divided game. But we believed a lot.

“It was different from Arsenal, we controlled the Arsenal game in the first half but I didn’t feel that belief. Today I felt it and I think that was the key point to change the game.

“I think for the fans it has a deep meaning especially in this context, this moment, but we had a difficult moment one week ago against Nottingham (Forest) at home, in the storm.

“After this match we are more happy, three points, but we have to continue and don’t stop. Next week we are playing again and it will change the way we see the team. Today is a good day, let’s enjoy it for 10 minutes and then think about the next game.”