Pep Guardiola acknowledged that the reasons behind Manchester City’s poor form extend beyond the absence of Rodri and other injuries. Despite a promising first half in their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, City slumped in the second half, leading to their ninth loss in 12 matches. Goals from Jhon Duran and Morgan Rogers handed Villa a comfortable victory, with Phil Foden’s late goal offering little consolation.
Guardiola, however, expressed confidence that results could improve, although he remains cautious. He stated, “We played a really good first half, but in the second half, we dropped off. The tempo of the game became difficult.” When asked about the team’s future, he emphasized, “It depends on us. The solution is to bring the players back. We have just one central defender fit, which makes it difficult, but we will try again next game.”
While the absence of key players like Rodri and injuries to others have been blamed for City’s struggles, Guardiola admitted there are other factors at play. He noted, “There are more reasons. We concede goals we didn’t concede in the past, and we’re not scoring the goals we used to score. Football is not just one reason; it’s a lot of little factors.”
Guardiola also praised Aston Villa’s performance, especially in the second half. Villa manager Unai Emery highlighted his side’s “domination,” particularly after the break. “In the first half, we were more dominated than we wanted, but in the second half, we imposed ourselves more,” he said. “We played with confidence, controlled possession, and scored the second goal.”
Emery also singled out Morgan Rogers for his outstanding performance, saying, “He was fantastic today, linking strikers with midfielders and wingers. He needs to add more goals to his tally, but today he was fantastic.”
Despite City’s ongoing crisis, Guardiola remains optimistic about finding a solution and guiding the team back to form, step by step.
