Pep Guardiola feels he has managed to avoid being sacked at Manchester City following five consecutive losses and a draw, attributing this to the 'margin' provided by eight years of success at the club. City squandered a three-goal lead in their 3-3 draw with Feyenoord on Tuesday, ending their losing streak, and now face a trip to Liverpool on Sunday, knowing they will trail Arne Slot's leaders by 11 points if they lose. Guardiola candidly stated that the club would 'have to' dismiss him if he fails to address the issues, reiterating his often-stated claim that he will leave if he feels he is no longer beneficial.

'At this football club you have to win and if you don't win, you will be in trouble,' the manager said. 'I know people say: ‘Why is Pep not in trouble, why is Pep not sacked?’ What we have done the last eight years is why I have this margin.'

Guardiola has guided City to four consecutive Premier League titles and six in total, along with two FA Cups, four League Cups, the Champions League, Uefa Super Cup, and the Fifa Club World Cup. He was asked if City's chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, had provided assurances this week. 'We talk for nine years here – not every day but after the games all the time and before sometimes,' he said. 'He gave me his opinion, I gave my opinion, Txiki [Begiristain, sporting director] gave his opinion, the players give their opinion [too] and afterwards we try to figure out how to move forward.'

Guardiola said he takes 'absolutely all on my shoulders' and that he and his players need to ensure there is 'no complaining, no blaming, no pointing'. He is currently without Rodri due to a serious knee injury expected to keep the midfielder out until next season, and his frontline centre-backs Nathan Aké, John Stones, Rúben Dias, and Manuel Akanji have also been unavailable at times. Guardiola refuses to use these absences as an excuse.

'In a decade we don’t find it [anywhere],' he said of City's run of success, before reflecting on the slump. 'It’s not nice to live, but what do you expect? That everything is easy? It’s easy when everyone is fit and in their prime and everyone is 26, 27, 28. Now, no. I have to put myself [forward] now. It’s not an excuse that Rodri is not there. Cry all the time? That the four central defenders have not been there. I have to find a solution and I’m trying every day.'

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