Manchester City has failed to win a match in their last league games which is something the supporters of the club are not used to since the arrival of Pep Guardiola.
The Spaniard international has insisted that his team's poor performance in recent games has nothing to do with the absence of his key midfielders ( Kevin de Bruyne and Rodri). Pep Guardiola made this known while he was speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of the game against Luton Town.
These were his thoughts regarding De Bruyne, who was included in the FIFA Club World Cup squad but is not expected to play.
He said,
"I think he starts to run on the pitch but he didn't train once with us. The World Cup is in two or three weeks, so I don’t know. Maybe it’s a little bit early, but I don't know. Kevin is so important. I'm not going to discover Kevin, he is so important. Unfortunately, he had a tough injury, three or four months. Don’t put pressure, he will be back when he will be back. He'll be back, open arms to get him. We have to do it together. Kevin is here? Yes. Kevin is not here? Okay, we are not here waiting. Rodri is not here, I have to find a way. Last season was almost all the time there and when he is not there I have to find a way to try to survive. Rodri is so important, definitely. But it would be so simplistic to say just for one player. I would say it's not just that, there are many factors. There are games he didn't play, the previous season, was really good as well. We lack consistency in our process in the last game. We didn't have the creativity in the game [Villa], the feeling to create chances. I didn't have that feeling. Because Rodri's not there, I don't think so."
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The Belgian has not featured for City since the opening-day fixture against Burnley, while Rodri served a one-game suspension at Aston Villa as the Blues lost their third Premier League match of the campaign. The Cityzen's four defeats in all competitions this season have all come when Rodri has been suspended.
