MANCHESTER: Ahead of the high-stakes Manchester Derby set to take place at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has revealed that he would consider leaving the club if he lost the dressing room.
"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 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 was quoted saying by Daily Mail.
The Spaniard recently signed a contract extension that has tied his future with the club till 2027.
Guardiola's side is going through an injury crisis with the team being highly depleted on defense as John Stones, Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji are all nursing their respective injuries. The biggest impact has been the absence of Rodri, the midfielder is aiming to return to action before the season ends after suffering a ruptured ACL in his right knee during the team's 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September.
Since Rodri's injury, City have now won only one of their last 10 games, fallen off the top of the Premier League table and now sit at fifth place, nine points behind league leaders Liverpool.
This is Guardiola’s worst period in his managing career. After leading the Cityzens to four consecutive Premier League titles, the Spaniard admitted in his recent press conference that he does not know how to fix things.
“I don’t know what I have to do. I need players. We have three but we will see what happens. Maybe some winger will have to play as a full-back or maybe we play with five at the back. We are thinking about what to do, but the soul and spirit of the team is there. I am sad for the players, ’ said Guardiola in a press conference.