Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Tuesday’s Champions League game against Feyenoord (kick-off 20:00 GMT).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
Guardiola believes their current run of form “will pass” because “the desire is there to change it and we are going to try”.
On whether he will make any changes to turn results around: “The players have played a lot of minutes. We have players who are injured. It’s unusual. I think in the situation, we have to go direct to our principles – change less more than ever.”
He said they “create a lot of chances” but are not scoring as much as they have in previous season. Guardiola added: “It is not normal that John [Stones] is our top scorer after Erling Haaland.”
On relying too heavily on Halaand: “We are lucky to have Erling. Every game, he has three or four chances. One day he scores two or three.”
He said City “will have to adapt” given their injury list if they want to start scoring more but disagreed with the argument that his side are getting too old to perform at a top level.
More from Guardiola on the run of results: “Our standards have to continue to be there – but they can also drop. Tell me of one team whose haven’t after what we have done for many, many years? There’s a lot of minimal factors that are the reason. If it was one reason I would take it, but it’s not as simple.”
He said he didn’t expect to lose five in a row but the focus should be on the performances and not results. He added: “The beginning of the season was really good, but we are not consistent enough or solid in every aspect.”
On Kevin de Bruyne getting back to his best after injury: “He’s fighting to come back to his best. When Kevin can train fully, he will give us something because he’s unique. It would make no sense if I said the opposite.”
More from Guardiola on De Bruyne’s future: “I don’t know. That is up to Kevin – whether that is the end of the next one, or the next one, or the next one. Like David Silva, he will decide when is best for him and the team. He will not want to be in the position where he can’t play every three days. When he’s available, he has to play.”
