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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he blames himself for the club’s terrible form.
City, who have won the Premier League title in the last four years and six of the last seven, are 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.
A 2-0 win at Leicester on Sunday was only their second win in 14 games.
It was the worst run of an incredibly successful managerial career that took in spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“There are many, many things (linked to being a manager) and I forgot something – something I did badly,” said Guardiola, who has been at the club for nine seasons.
“Finally, when you lose a lot of games it’s an incredible responsibility for the manager to take on. There’s something the team needs and trust and I didn’t do it.
“The call is on me first, not the players. They naturally fall a little bit and that’s normal. It also happened a little bit last season.”
Town have had slow starts to seasons in the past – and have trailed the leaders by six points or more in each of the last four title-winning campaigns – but they have never done badly.
“With this consistency (of results) I have to find it, and that is why we are in this position,” said Guardiola.
“I blame (myself). It’s not to say, ‘oh how nice Pep is’ – it’s the truth. I lead the group of players and I can’t lift them up. It’s the truth.”
City have suffered a number of injuries this season – including Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri – which Guardiola has repeatedly highlighted.
“We were the only unbeaten team in Europe (until 30 October) and led the league, but immediately we fell, because of injuries, many things we talked about,” he said.
“But, even so, I would have found a way to get better results.”
The champions host West Ham at 15:00 GMT on Saturday.
