Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has insisted that he is to blame for the team's struggles this season.
The Citizens have lifted the Premier League trophy in each of the last four years, but a disastrous run of form has seen them drop out of the title picture this term, with the team instead involved in a battle for the top four.
Man City beat Leicester City 2-0 in the league last weekend, but that proved to be just their second victory in 14 matches, and the reigning champions are sixth in the Premier League table, 14 points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
Guardiola has claimed that he has "missed something", with the Spaniard accepting the blame for Man City's issues.
"There are many, many things [involved in being a manager] and I missed something - something I am not doing well," Guardiola told reporters during his press conference ahead of the clash with West Ham United on Saturday.
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Man City are not in the Premier League title picture this season
"In the end, when you lose a lot of games it is an incredible responsibility for the manager to take. There is something the team needs and confidence and I was not able to do it. The call is on me first, it's not the players. They naturally drop a little bit and that is normal. It happened a little bit last season as well.
"With this consistency [of results] I should have found it, and that is why we're in this position. I blame [myself]. It's not to say, 'oh how nice is Pep' - it's the truth. I lead that group of players and I could not lift them. This is the reality."
"We were the only unbeaten team in Europe [until 30 October] and top of the league, but immediately we went down, for injuries, many things we've talked about. But, even with that, I should have found a way to get better results."
Man City are four points behind fourth-placed Chelsea on the same number of matches, but they are only two points ahead of ninth-placed Aston Villa in a compact top half of the division.
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Guardiola admits Man City "have to play better"
"We have to play better," Guardiola added during his press conference. "It's easy for me [to say] 'we don't run or fight'. When you lose all the time, a lot of the managers [say] 'we don't have spirit or character we don't have this type of stuff.
"How do you measure that? I measure it if we don't play good. What we sustained in the past is our level and consistency in how we were playing. And the control of many aspects of the game.
"And the reason why we mainly didn't win is because we didn't play good. Because we are not a team to make incredible runs in transition or physicality - we never have been.
"I've said many times we play with players in the past who are not strong box to box players in this kind of stuff and we handle it. The main reason to play good is many aspects and focus in the mind on what you have to do. That's what we've missed in this part of the season."
Man City will follow Saturday's home league fixture against West Ham with a clash against Salford City in the FA Cup, before returning to league action with back-to-back away games against Brentford and Ipswich Town.
Matt Law
