Manchester City suffered a points loss against Aston Villa for the third time in four matches, with the defeat on Wednesday being the most illustrative of the current form of Pep Guardiola's team. He understands the criticism.
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Manchester City is now six points behind league leader Arsenal, making title prolongation a difficult story.
"At this moment, we are not the best team in the world because we are not getting results. We are trying to return to our level and are not far from it," Guardiola said in his weekly press talk.
"When you win, you are the best team in the world. When you don't win, you're not. We don't need to hear that from the outside, we know it. I always expect these kinds of moments and didn't think we would win four games in a row. The criticism we receive is understandable. It's too easy to say that Rodri's absence makes the difference. I don't think it's just that."
"Do you know how difficult we had it last year? We were eight or nine points behind Arsenal, despite all the injuries we had. Maybe we needed what has happened now. Bad results help you understand how difficult it is what we have achieved," said the Spaniard. "The next two games are so important before we go to Saudi Arabia to play the Club World Cup final."
De Bruyne
When Kevin De Bruyne will be back at Manchester City, Guardiola does not yet know. The Belgian was injured at the end of August. "He'll be back when he's fit. We're not in a hurry and will welcome him with open arms."
Updated: 01:34, 8 Dec 2023
