Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola continues to look disappointed and bemused by his side as they drew 1-1 at home with Everton on Boxing Day.
City have now won just one of their last 13 games in all competitions and coughed up a great chance to get back to winning ways as Erling Haaland had a second half penalty kick saved.
The Pep Guardiola reaction is extremely solemn at the moment as City lost more ground not only in the title race (which they really aren’t in anymore) but most importantly the scrap for a top four finish.
Pep Guardiola reaction after Man City draw with Everton
“We played really good but they are in the period right now where it happens. We create, we concede the first time they arrive but, yeah, keep going,” a downbeat Guardiola told Amazon Prime in the UK.
Asked if he saw some of the extra confidence he was hoping for from his side, Guardiola didn’t go that far but he did praise aspects of their performance.
“Yeah, we have to try, confidence will come with the results because always it is in our mind. The performance against that team was really cool. Defensively, offensively. We shoot a lot in the 18-yard box but unfortunately we couldn’t get the result we wanted.”
Asked what he wants to see his team to do against Leicester on Sunday, it was all about mentality for Guardiola.
“It is recovery, just three days, and we need to go there with the best mentality as possible. That is all we need to do,” Guardiola said.
Later in his post-game press conference Guardiola praised his players.
“We shot I don’t know how many shots,” Guardiola said. “The first half was brilliant and the first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half was really good. The first time they arrived they scored a goal. At the end, there were transitions and we controlled to avoid the defeat but we analyse the result because we are not happy. The performance and the way the guys have done in the situation were brilliant. We didn’t score the goals we need but there are games where I don’t like what I see: today that was not the case.”
He also said that Kyle Walker is sick, and both Jack Grealish and Ederson felt something in training and weren’t ready to go against Everton.
Guardiola also added that City are looking to make reinforcements in January when asked about the plan for the window.
“Even the players [think]: ‘Oh, we have to add some players,’ but the truth is, this season we have a lot [of problems]. And this is a problem,” Guardiola said.
“[But] I think it’s not to bring a player for that [the short term]. You have to bring a player for the next three, four, or five years. And this is sometimes not easy to do. But, of course, I think we have to try it because [the situation] has been sustained for a long time.
“Eight important players are [out]. And [Ilkay] Gundogan was not ready today [to start]. And Kevin [De Bruyne] was not ready for 90 minutes. And maybe should have come on earlier. But yes, we have this situation. It’s been a long time. And of course, you have to talk with the club and the club will decide. We have to try because this is sustained for a long time.”
Manuel Akanji was also asked by Amazon Prime in the UK if a draw was a fair result.
“I don’t think so, no,” Akanji said. “I think we did way more throughout the game. We created lots of chances. Unfortunately we only scored one goal and we conceded one, out of basically nothing. That is how football is.”
Akanji lamented City’s inability to finish chances and couldn’t believe they almost gave up a goal in stoppage time after pushing everyone forward.
“This was a game today where we were able to score two, three, four goals, but it didn’t want to go in,” Akanji said. “I’m being honest with you, it can’t happen that we nearly lose the game in the last minute. We are trying to attack and then we lose the ball and it’s a six against two situation in front of our goal. Luckily I could block the shot. But we still need to believe until the last moment that we can win the match but it wasn’t possible today.”
He was also asked if City can get back in the title race.
“The season is not finished but that [being in the title race] is not our target at the moment,” Akanji said. “We need to focus on game by game and the next one is coming against Leicester, it won’t be easy on the shape that we are in. We need to fully focus, recover and do the best in this match.”
Akanji also revealed City will take some confidence from this performance into their game at Leicester on Sunday.
“We did lots of things great. We defended well, we attacked well, we just weren’t able to finish the actions. If we are able to finish them I think there would have been three or four goals for us,” Akanji added.
