City players still back beleaguered Guardiola, says Foden

LONDON — Phil Foden insists Manchester City's players still believe in Pep Guardiola, despite the painful loss to Manchester United that extended its dismal streak.

The devastating 2-1 defeat in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday means that Guardiola's side has lost eight of its past 11 games in all competitions.

Undone by the kind of dismal defending that has become a regular feature in its shocking decline, City conceded twice in the closing minutes, as United dealt another blow to the Premier League champion's fading hopes of a fifth successive title.

Fifth-placed City trails league leader Liverpool, which has a game in hand, by nine points and has already suffered five league defeats this season — after enduring just three in the whole of the last topflight campaign.

Guardiola said after the game that he is "not good enough", as the worst crisis of his managerial career deepened.

But City forward Foden is adamant that the Spaniard, who recently signed a new two-year contract, retains the support of his beleaguered squad.

"We are still nowhere near our level, but I still believe that we are playing good enough to get points and results," he said.

"It's about remaining focused throughout the full 90 minutes, but we keep switching off at important times. We just need to get the focus right.

"We stick together, regroup and believe in ourselves after what we've achieved in the past.

"We keep believing in the process and the manager — I'm sure if we do that, we will get back to winning ways and get back to our level."

City desperately needs to find a winning formula ahead of Saturday's Premier League trip to Aston Villa.

Foden admitted he is baffled by City's remarkable fall from grace, with the damage to the team's morale clear to him in the dressing room after the derby defeat.

"I can't put a finger on what's going on," Foden said.

"I thought the performance was more than good enough to get the result, but we come out with no points, and it seems to be the same story at the moment. We just have to stick together.

"The changing room is obviously going to be down and sad at the moment, but we can't dwell on this too much."

After facing Villa, Guardiola's team hosts Everton on Dec 26 before visiting Leicester in its last game of 2024.

With the busy festive season looming, Foden urged his teammates to stick together.

"It's about keeping our mentality strong throughout the whole 90 minutes, and we're not doing that at the moment," he said.

"We have to go again and show character to come back from this blip.

"It's not a time for moaning, it's about sticking together, remaining strong and going again. I'm positive we are going to come back."

AFP