The winless streak is now at five games, and something needs to be changed at Manchester City right now. A team that won 10 games in a row now looks weak, unable to react to bad circumstances and struggles to play good football. Pep Guardiola saw his team have plenty of problems against Southampton on Sunday, especially in the first half, and despite an improved performance in the final period, it still wasn't good enough. Not even close, actually.
The players know they didn't do well, and their (few) reactions on social media showed that. Still, they remain confident, trying to look on the bright side: City still lead the Premier League despite the poor run of form.
We didn't get what we set out to obtain, but we're still in the race. There's room for growth and we've got the drive for it. C'mon, City!
— Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) October 23, 2016
⚽ #CmonCity #ChinUp #StillOnTop #PremierLeague #StayFocused #LS19 #inSané @67Kelechi @ManCity pic.twitter.com/uToKxn4H5f
— Leroy Sané (@LeroySane19) October 23, 2016
We keep fighting #ComonCity @LeroySane19 @67Kelechi pic.twitter.com/DzSbZLsMXR
— Kelechi Iheanacho (@67Kelechi) October 23, 2016
Manager Pep Guardiola spoke to the media after the game, and he was clearly disappointed, but remains positive about the future. According to Guardiola, changes need to be made due to the current run of bad results, but he and the players will work out the problems together. He also analyzed the match as a whole, and praised his team for their second half efforts.
Here's a round-up of Pep's post-match quotes:
“We are together. We spoke [in the dressing room] about the situation we have.
“We are going to accept the situation: five games without winning because something happened. We want to go up and up.
“I was a football player - I know this can happen. You can win ten times in a row and then you are not able to win five times. That is part of football. You have to accept that.
“I have to discover the reason why and I am going to find that. I have to help the team to achieve.
“We had problems to create our build-up. It was slow and when we arrived with players in front, we could not make the difference.
“There is a difference between the first and second half. Unfortunately, we could not win. In the second half, we tried. There was chances and nothing else. We didn’t create too much but we were there. Part of the reason why we didn’t win is because the difference between the first and second half is obvious.
“Mistakes are not the reason why - not because of [Aleks] Kolarov’s own goal at White Hart Lane, or missed penalties. There is something more - about how you react in situations. When we see the performances in 90 minutes, it is not bad.
“It was important to change our dynamic [from the last games]. Everything influences when you play well or bad. It affects you mentally - we are working on it.”
Source: ManCity.com