A desperate and furious Pep Guardiola during the Premier League match against Aston Villa which saw his Manchester City still defeated: unusual reactions from the Spanish coach on the pitchside bench.
The profound crisis of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City continues that comes also defeated at Aston Villa for a performance that features only one victory (against Nottingham Forest) in the last 12 matches played between the League Cup, Premier League and Champions League. A KO 2-1 at the home of the Villains which effectively erases the already very slim chances of getting back into the fight for the title in the top English league with the Citizens now finding themselves -9 behind leaders Liverpool having played two more matches.
A defeat even heavier than the final result suggests therefore, especially in light of the fact ofimportance that this match had as it was the one in which the Spanish coach hoped to reverse the trend and put an end to what is certainly his darkest period since he arrived on the City bench.
And that the stakes were very high, well beyond the three points, it was clear to everyone observing the way in which Pep Guardiola himself experienced the match on the sidelines. The match against Aston Villa was indeed a gift a Pep Guardiola never seen before who at every moment showed his emotions for what was happening on the pitch, also giving vent to moments of desperation (in fact he put his hands in front of his face several times) and also of anger like whenirritated by his team's inability to get back into the game after going two goals down, he violently threw a bottle of water he was holding in his hands to the ground.
Guardiola flags himself after Manchester City's defeat in the derby: “I'm not good enough”
Therefore evident the suffering of those who have not yet managed to find the key to turning around a situation in which neither he nor his Manchester City have ever found themselves before. Despite this, and despite yet another defeat which, if there were any more, eliminates the chances of confirming themselves as champions of England, but after the match Pep Guardiola has hinted that he still believes in his players and in the possibility of finding that suddenly lost identity from the end of October:
“We had an excellent first half, we dropped in the second half. We changed the way we pressed because John (Stones, ed.) couldn't continue. Congratulations to Aston Villa, they are very strong. We had good moments, we had chances, more chances than in the match against United, but in the second half we dropped off and our pressing wasn't good enough. We struggled a bit and weren't able to counter them well. We found a goal at the end, but when it was too late. We struggled to score and conceded goals.
But we have some great personalities in the team and sooner or later we will find our way again. The turnaround may or may not come. It depends on us. The solution is to find the players. We only have one fit central defender, it's difficult. We'll try in the next game, another opportunity and at the moment we're not thinking much further than that” Pep Guardiola said to TNT Sports after his Manchester City's defeat at Aston Villa.
