Guardiola: City Can Return to Their Best Form

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, the English Premier League champions, stated on Tuesday that his team is capable of returning to its usual level once all key players are back.

City, who have won the Premier League title in four of the last five seasons, have lost six of their last seven matches across all competitions, including four in the league. They are currently in fifth place, 11 points behind leaders Liverpool.

This decline is exceptional for a team that has won six of the last seven league titles and also secured the Champions League title two seasons ago.

Guardiola, whose team will host Nottingham Forest on Wednesday in the 14th round, expressed confidence that City’s slump is not permanent.

He said: “When we get the full squad back this season, we will be close to the level we reached last season.”

City has been dealing with several injuries, including the loss of Spain’s Rodri, the world’s best player award winner, for the remainder of the season. Several other key players have also been out for varying periods due to injury, including Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne, Croatian Mateo Kovacic, and Portuguese Ruben Dias.

Guardiola described City’s performance against Liverpool, which ended in a 2-0 defeat, as “great.”

He added: “I think we are not far from the second-place team in the league (City is two points behind Arsenal and Chelsea, who are in second and third place), but it’s always about the way you play, the consistency in the penalty area, and many things that give you positive ideas about what will happen in the future.”

Guardiola also mentioned that the club would discuss the possibility of strengthening the squad during the January transfer window.

The Spanish coach confirmed that Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson is still the first-choice keeper, despite not playing in the match against Liverpool and being replaced by German Stefan Ortega following a mistake in a Champions League game against Feyenoord last week, which ended in a 3-3 draw.

Guardiola said that Ederson accepted the decision well, adding: “Ederson is number one, and Stefan is number two. But maybe Stefan will continue. We’ll see tomorrow and in upcoming matches.”

Guardiola urged City fans to support the team in the upcoming match against Forest, who are in sixth place, one point behind City.

He said: “We’ve shared many great moments together. They know we need absolute support because we are all, especially the players, human.”