Guardiola learning from slump, unsure about De Bruyne future

Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League tie with Feyenoord, Guardiola refused to consider age as a factor in Man City's struggles

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola during a press conference at the City Football Academy, 

Pep Guardiola is not attributing Manchester City's current slump on the age of his players. City have lost five games in succession with scrutiny on the performances and availability of elder stats such as Kevin de Bruyne and Kyle Walker.

However, ahead of Tuesday's Champions League tie with Feyenoord, Guardiola refused to consider age as a factor, suggesting City's issues are principally down to an injury crisis. Though he was non-committal on De Bruyne's future at the club.

"There are players that are 23 that did not perform good. My analysis is we're not getting results because we haven't had many players.  

"You can handle one or two players, but not four or five in key positions. Maybe not five in a row, but it should happen.

"Tell me one team in the world that does not drop. I could never blame one player here. There's a lot of minimal factors that are the reason. If it was one reason I would take it, but it's not as simple. Right now, the most important thing is not tactics, it is to win a game on desire."

Guardiola insists he is learning from the current poor run of form.

"I learn from these situations, be calm. Sometimes I shout, but the next morning with a coffee, I'm saying why am I shouting, stay calm. It is quite normal after a game. What happens in the past makes an influence in our lives in the right moment.

"At the beginning of the season, we were first, we're still second. It's not about the results, right now, it is about the performance, which at the start of the season was really, really good, except the Bournemouth game."

Guardiola accepted De Bruyne is not yet able to play at his best level after injury: "He's fighting to come back to his best. He's not 26, 27, 28. His first game, the day before Spurs, he said it's the first day he didn't feel (able to) perform. When he came back after five months, we had to play him for 15, 30, 45 minutes.

"When Kevin can train fully, he will give us something because he's unique."

Of the Belgian's future, he added: "I don't know. That is up to Kevin. Whether that is the end of the next one, or the next one, or the next one. Like David Silva, he will decide when is best for him and the team. He will not want to be in the position where he can't play every three days. When he's available, he has to play."