Pep Guardiola has given a surprisingly honest assessment of his Manchester City side, claiming the Premier League champions aren't good at defending.
Guardiola's side easily won the league title last season and are on their way to a very exciting battle to defend their title this season as well.
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The five time champions are in for a fight with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, with the two sides having only lost three times in the league between them so far.
Most people wouldn't see too many frailties with either side, but Guardiola has been extremely frank in saying that his team aren't particularly good defenders.
Asked whether his City side are as good as his Barcelona team, which won two Champions League titles in three years, at keeping possession, the former Barca boss said, "It’s the ball. If you see our players individually, we are not good defenders. We are not.
"So individually Bernardo [Silva], [Ilkay] Gundogan, Kevin [De Bruyne], Raz [Raheem Sterling], Riyad [Mahrez], even Joao [Cancelo], Aleks [Oleksandr Zinchenko], we are not good defenders.
"But we have the ball. The ball is the only reason why you are stable. What you do with it - it’s the only reason.
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"You create chances, it’s the ball. You concede few, it’s the ball. It’s how you play in the middle of the game - if the midfield players handle that, you’ll be stable behind and positive up front.
"Without that, the same players will concede a lot of chances."
On Boxing Day, his players partially helped prove the theory, as they faced Leicester City at the Etihad in a crazy game with eight goals.
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The hosts rushed to a 4-0 lead inside the opening half an hour, thanks in part to two penalties, and they should have had more goals before half time.
However Leicester got back into the game with three goals, to tease a possible repeat of Cheick Tiote's famous goal in Newcastle United's 4-4 draw with Arsenal, proving the team can't defend, only for City to twice more and make it 6-3.
Speaking about how his team play football, Guardiola also compared his team to Jurgen Klopp's and suggested the one part of the Reds' game that makes them most dangerous was something City couldn't match.
"We cannot attack quicker. We are not Liverpool. They are masters at that, we are not," the 50-year-old added.
"We don’t know what we have to do with that. We know we have to drive, to drive, to drive and to play with the ball.
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"...Patience doesn’t mean lazy, slow. It’s the ball. If you have the ball, you are in order and everything is stable. Stability is the ball. It’s not about defending 40 metres behind or 40 metres up front, or high pressing, or defending, or long balls, or whatever.
"To be stable as a team, it’s the ball, no more than that."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Premier League, Manchester City, Liverpool, Pep Guardiola