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Pep Guardiola has a new appreciation for Manchester City’s dominance amid their current struggles and claimed he would walk away if he felt he had lost the team.
City host Manchester United in the derby at the Etihad on Sunday in the unfamiliar position of having lost seven of their last 10 games in all competitions.
Guardiola ended speculation about his future by signing a new two-year contract three weeks ago but that certainty has so far not helped City arrest their slide.
Asked if he had any regrets, the Spaniard gave an emphatic response, saying: “Absolutely not. I would regret leaving now. I could not sleep. They could sack me. That could happen. But leaving now? No chance.
“When I feel it is time to leave, I will leave. If I’m losing and losing and losing one month more, I will say, ‘guys, it has to come someone else to fix these kind of things’, because it cannot be eternal.
“There is one thing when I would say, ‘Pep, you have to think about it’, is when I lose the team, when I feel they don’t run. They don’t follow me.
“In that moment, not one minute would we be here. But more than ever I am there. There’s no doubt about that.”
The challenge in front of Guardiola now is an unfamiliar one and, although it is certainly not what he would have wanted, it has given him cause to reflect a little on the trophy-laden seasons that have preceded it.
He hopes there will be more to come, but said: “The greatest achievement has already been done. We have been the best.
“But now it’s made me realise how difficult it was what we have done and, when we come back, of course it will be, wow, we will not forget those moments. Because we want it and we do it and we are not able.”
Guardiola’s biggest current headache is in defence, where injuries to John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis’ suspension have left him with only Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol available.
He insists he has no problem shouldering the responsibility, adding: “That’s why I’m well paid. If I don’t want what happened, all the comments after the game, I have to go and do another job.
“I didn’t expect that the good moments that happened in the past give me time in the bad moments. It never happened with any manager in history. I’m calm because I know the reason why when we were winning, and I know the reason why we are losing.
“It’s not enough, I know that. The players are not stupid. They tasted the highest level in consistency and it didn’t matter what happened we found a way to win the games. Now we don’t have the way to win the games.
“Of course we have to improve. We don’t have a defence for the results. But it’s football, it’s life.
“You tell me a month ago when we were top of the league, unbeaten, the only English team unbeaten, you’re going to lose the next (five). Are you crazy? It’s not going to happen. It’s happened, and maybe we can lose more.”
