I heard emotional Pep Guardiola lay down challenge to Man City fans

Defeats are not treating Pep Guardiola well.

The Manchester City manager told his friend (and former striker) Luca Toni this week that he isn't sleeping well, an evening bowl of soup is the only thing he can stomach and his state of mind can be 'ugly' as he tries to halt the worst run of results in his professional career. Toni remarked that Guardiola looked 'almost nervous, unrecognisable' from the man he had first met many years ago.

City's manager is hurting because a group of players who he has such special memories with are now struggling badly. And while the world gets to pull them apart twice a week for the public spectacles that their matches have become, Guardiola sees the trials that go on behind closed doors and will not be rushing to join the critics tearing his players apart.

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"Erling [Haaland] played all the minutes, what he has done it’s unbelievable. Without him I don’t know who we would be," he said on Friday.

"All of them and honestly it’s so emotional from my point of view when I see them before and during the recovery time and time spent to be fit in this period. It's remarkable and I’m there with them.

"I tell them, ‘you are good, you play good’. I know the situation is difficult. In the world you have to accept it; in this business it is fine when you win and when don’t win it is not good. But you have to analyse a little bit more than just the results.

"With these players, I want to be here and I want to stay close to these players. Not behind or in front: beside them. This is what I want to do."

Guardiola still has the backing of the owners and