You can’t ignore Manchester City’s fifth consecutive defeat. The poker that Tottenham received today could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The defender and captain of the sky blues, Kyle Walkerhe exposed himself publicly in the post-match to the microphones of Sky Sports UK to comment on the extremely negative moment his team experienced together with Pep Guardiola.
First words: “It’s difficult to stand here and talk about this situation when I haven’t digested it properly yet. I’ve been here when we won titles, so I’ll be here for the defeats too. This is the most frustrating thing for a defender. I don’t care scoring goals, I’m interested in keeping clean sheets, and right now we’re not doing that. We need to get back to basics and get a clean sheet. If we concede four goals at home, we need to score five.”
But the problem isn’t just about defense: “It’s not just about the four, five or six defenders, but all 11 players on the pitch. I wouldn’t say we’ve lost confidence as a team. I’ve spent eight years with this group. You can lose confidence as a team, but we have to remember that that we have achieved together. What we have done in the past does not count, it is history. There is a team above us that is doing very well. We will continue to fight until the end, as we always do it’s Tuesday. Let’s hope our spirit returns and that we will see the City we have been for the last eight years. Your qualities don’t suddenly disappear. We know our strengths and weaknesses. If you win a match, you regain confidence and feel like before.
On next Sunday’s match at Anfield with league leaders Liverpool: “It’s a great opportunity to turn the situation around and take three points from the team ahead of us. But we can’t afford a performance like that (today, ed.), otherwise we risk being overwhelmed. We have a Champions League match to prepare for that crucial match on Sunday and we need to stay in touch with Liverpool.”
The complete calendar
Saturday 23 November
Leicester – Chelsea 1-2
Arsenal – Nottingham Forest 3-0
Aston Villa – Crystal Palace 2-2
Bournemouth – Brighton 1-2
Everton 0-0 Brentford
Fulham – Wolverhampton 1-4
Manchester City – Tottenham 0-4
Sunday 24 November
Southampton – Liverpool
Ipswich – Manchester United
Monday 25 November
Newcastle – West Ham
Classification
Liverpool 28
Manchester City 23
Chelsea 22
Arsenal 22
Brighton 22
Tottenham 19
Nottingham Forest 19
Aston Villa 19
Newcastle 18
Fulham 18
Brentford 17
Bournemouth 15
Manchester United 15
West Ham 12
Everton 11
Leicester 10
Wolverhampton 9
Ipswich 8
Crystal Palace 8
Southampton 4