Manchester City began to look much better than themselves after returning from the FIFA Club World Cup. Photo: Reuters/Molly Darlington
Manchester City senior player The players held a summit last month to ensure no one played the “victim card” or made up “excuses” after poor results put the hopes of a fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Nathan Ake told Telegraph Sport in an exclusive interview how a group of City captains led by Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Bernardo Silva convened crucial talks in a bid to jump-start their fading season.
Three consecutive Premier League draws against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, in which City scored eight goals, and a 3-2 Champions League comeback win over RB Leipzig they were forced to lead the game 2–0, which was followed by a 1–1 victory. 0 defeat to Aston Villa on December 6.
It saw City drop to fourth in the table, six points behind then-leaders Arsenal, and sparked a dressing room investigation, echoing the crisis meeting with the former captain. Fernandinho called on January 1 four years ago, which ultimately changed their season.
“We had a big meeting organized by the captains and we had a good talk with each other,” Ake explained.
“Not to beat each other up, but honestly: everyone needs to look at ourselves to see what we can do better, because this is not what we want.
“We want to win games and continue the season.” again, and we had to do it now, while there are still so many games left.
“There was still time because we would rather talk then than in five weeks, when we could have been further behind points.”
Successive wins over Everton and Sheffield United at Christmas strengthened the team's position and last season's treble title winners had the chance to move within two points of leaders Liverpool by beating Newcastle United at St James' Park on Saturday
< p>Ake said it was accepted that City had been unlucky on some occasions, but the management group wanted to eliminate any possibility of self-pity or complacency.
City are back on track in the Premier League with wins over Everton and Sheffield United. Photo: Getty Images/Jan Kruger
“We have spoken to the players several times to get to the bottom of this,” he said. “We know we didn't play that bad. But we didn't get the points and we all expect from each other that we get the points, defend better and look at ourselves why we're conceding so many goals.
“They weren't necessarily great [opponent] goals. – a lot of them were reflections or things like that – but it happened anyway, so [we asked] why did it happen this year and not last year?
“We talked to each other about it to try to understand and make sure everyone was on the same page – that we weren't just playing the victim card because of an aberration or a difficult moment.”
Ake said that everyone players can speak out and raise any concerns, as they did in January 2021 during what Fernandinho called an “emergency” meeting that helped secure a 21-game winning streak and a third Premier League title. under the leadership of Pep Guardiola.
“We have to do better as individual players and defenders, but everyone was allowed to say whatever they wanted and we ran with it,” he said.
“We set ourselves very high standards. Obviously the coach [Guardiola] is on top, but we also want to get good results and we always make sure that no matter what, we want to maintain high standards and not allow excuses or injuries to creep into performances. So it's good we still have that character to keep going.”
Ake said City had been encouraged in part by their rivals' failure to take full advantage of their five-week relegation. form in November. and December.
“We had some difficulties at some point, but the gap is not too big, and that motivated us too,” he said. “[The attitude was] 'OK, win these two games [Everton and Sheffield United] and we'll be back there and competitive again', knowing that usually towards the end of the season we start to pick up the pace and hopefully we move on . do the same.”
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