'Worst in league' - Pep Guardiola delivers brutal Man City home truths before Chelsea clash

Manchester City are the 'worst team in the Premier League' when they lose the ball, and opposition sides no longer fear the Blues according to a brutal Pep Guardiola verdict on his struggling side.

Guardiola believes his team will not be back to their best until next season and admitted to having serious doubts over City's ability to qualify for next season's Champions League through a top four (or top five) finish. The manager also did not rule out more incoming transfers this month after spending more than £100m already on three players.

This was an audience with Guardiola that wasn't about the questions he was asked. It was about the answers he wanted to give instead.

A question about Adukodir Khusanov's pace turned into a lengthy, passionate monologue about City's fear factor evaporating this season, and how they have stopped doing the things on and off the ball that he admits changed Premier League football. And when he was asked about City's approach to the January transfer market, another monologue followed about City's Champions League qualification hopes and their legacy.

Sometimes, getting Guardiola's true feelings can be like getting blood from a stone. But he poured his heart out before Saturday's clash with Chelsea.

City face Enzo Maresca's side in the first of a brutal run of fixtures that will truly test if they have come through their nightmare run before Christmas. They also face Club Brugge (in a must-win Champions League clash), Arsenal, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Brighton in their next nine games - as well as two potential Champions League play-off games.

Guardiola has battled to downplay the notion that City were 'back' over their recent seven-game unbeaten run, and used