‘I won’t give up… I have to do it’ – Pep Guardiola talks future amid Man City crisis

City have won just once, lost nine in their last 13 games in all competitions and have taken just five points from a possible 27 in the Premier League since the start of November.

Guardiola believes this underlines how remarkable their performances have been in good times, winning six league titles, including the last four in a row. And a manager who signed a new two-year contract last month stressed he was determined to move on and find a solution to their problems.

“I’ll try,” he said. “I will carry on. Sometimes you think it would be sooner or easier to fix the problem, and sometimes it takes longer. I won’t give up. I want to be here, I want to do it, and given the situation we’re in, no, I have to do it.”

Guardiola said he was even more determined to succeed in these difficult times as he spoke of his fear of letting everyone down at the Etihad Stadium.

“Of course I want it, everyone wants it,” he added. “I don’t want to disappoint my people, about the club, the fans and the people who love this place. It’s been that way since I arrived as a player and then as a manager. I think we all want to do something good in our job and please people. This is undeniable or not a question mark. It’s easy to understand.”

City travel to Leicester on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Everton on Boxing Day when they were without eight injured players. Guardiola believes this is a reason for their problems and is looking for evidence that they can bounce back like they did before.

He explained: “The biggest test is coming back; This has already happened, we’ve done this before. It reminds you how good the past was, that’s the truth. This makes you realize how good what we have done in the past is.

“My training does not involve complaining or pointing at others. It happened, it’s life, it’s football, so let’s try again. That’s why we’ve always been successful, because it’s never enough. We will try again and again. That’s why we won a lot of titles. There was a game every three days and for many, many years it was won, won, won. Now we have to do the same and the results are not good.”