The champions had only collected one win in 13 games before seeing off Leicester at the King Power Stadium in the final game of 2024.
And, despite suffering a plethora of injuries to key players in key positions during November and December, Guardiola still pointed to his own role in that difficult spell.
But the boss now hopes the three points earned over the Foxes in the East Midlands will be a turning point for City.
“The first call is for myself first. I’m unbelievably honest with myself,” Pep told media at his pre-match press conference.
“I know the reason we arrive and the main reason, it’s me. It’s not the players.
“The players naturally will drop a little bit, it’s normal. It even happened last season as well.
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“With this consistency, I should’ve found something different and it didn’t happen which is why we’re in this position. My blame.
“It’s not to say how nice is Pep. No, it’s the truth. I lead that group of players and I can’t lift them so far. This is the reality and why in the past they follow me or not follow me.
“[For] one and a half, two months, we were the only unbeaten team in England and Europe. We were top of the league and immediately we were down.
“It happens, but I was not able to - for injuries, for many things, we talk about that.
“Even with that, I should’ve found a way to get better results.
“Hopefully we can continue now with what we started in Leicester - performing better.”
Watch the second part of the manager’s media briefing in the video player above.
