“Call Me Delūsiønãl” – Pep Guardiola Makes Man City Claim and Praises “Amazing” Liverpool Midfielder

Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that some may label him “delusional” for suggesting Manchester City’s performance in their loss to Liverpool could mark a turning point in their season. .

However, the City manager conceded that the Reds were deserving winners as they extended their lead at the top of the Premier League.

Cody Gakpo’s early goal and Mohamed Salah’s second-half penalty secured a 2-0 victory for Arne Slot’s team at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Liverpool now sit nine points clear at the top of the table, while defending champions Manchester City trail by a significant 11 points.

And Guardiola said: “We congratulate Liverpool for a well-deserved victory. The first 15-20 minutes we experienced like many other times coming here in our prime. We suffered, they deserved the goal.

“After, we take the game. I know some people don’t like the line-ups but we cannot compete against Liverpool and many, many other clubs that are transitional teams.

“I love wingers but we wanted more control because we know when they lose it they immediately contact with Salah or Luiz or Gakpo or later Nunez. They are so fast, quicker, stronger than us in that position in a game.

“I have the feeling that from here we start to build something. Call me delusional but I have the feeling that from here we will start to build back to winning games and confidence.”

Guardiola added: “If today we give up when you come to Anfield, you go home with a terrible result. The team was there all the time, resilient in the bad moments knowing what was going to happen because we have experienced many times and that they could not drop and be negative.

“The last 15-20 minutes in the first half and the second half for the first 25-30 minutes the game was what we wanted without the threat that we expected to create with our passes. We didn’t create much. You have to play games to create chances and we don’t have it.

“Thank you to Bernardo (Silva), Manu (Nunes), Rico (Lewis) to play in a position that they’re not used to to fight against Gravenberch, his first control is amazing, and then the next line of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai and later Jones. We made an incredible effort.”

Manchester City have now suffered defeats in six of their last seven matches across all competitions, including four consecutive losses in the Premier League, marking their worst run of form under Pep Guardiola.

“Our target cannot be talking about titles in November or December but we didn’t do it when we were top of the league,” said the City boss.

“At the end, we are not far away from Arsenal or teams there but Liverpool win all the games in the Champions League and in the Premier League have just lost one here. That means how good they are doing. All we can do is congratulate them and learn from Liverpool.

“I lived better before than now. Even the taste of the wine was better. But I am incredibly honest with myself and when we were winning a lot my perspective was that I am fortunate to live that and now I am not depressed that everything is going bad.

“It looks like what we have done in the past is easy, but I know with Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool that we beat, or Arsenal in the last seasons, how strong they are, but now we are not as strong as we were, that is the reality, for many, many, many circumstances.

“I want the team back, and the players back. It is important because now the training sessions are better and four or five players are coming back.”

In other news, Liverpool Make Major Contract Progress with Key Star; Potential Announcement Date Revealed