Addressing the media at his pre-match press conference ahead of Friday’s FA Cup fourth round clash at home to Arsenal, the boss was quizzed about comments he had made last week about how he was responsible for tactical adjustments.
And pressed specifically about why he believed the buck stopped with him whenever a tough result occurred, the boss had a simple response.
“Because my duty is do I get results to seduce the players to perform as much level as possible to win games,” the City manager asserted.
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“I don’t like, I don’t feel like when it’s going bad, it’s because I don’t run, I don’t feel to point someone.
“If I don’t want excuses from my players, from the staff, from everyone, I cannot show the excuses for myself.
“First what happened, in my career since the day one, is look myself first.
“Because if we lose, I point you ‘we lost’ what benefit I said we lost for you, for you, for you, we lost. It’s the past. It’s not going to help me to win or to improve. It’s look to myself.
“I encourage them to look themselves. When they are not happy for many reasons, the only way is to perform better.
“Think in the past is the past. What happened in the past is the past. We get the salary for what we will do in the future. Extend the contract, what we’re going to do in the future. The past is done.
“In the end, I had to take the decisions. Before. Of course, the players are there. But I prefer to make me feel responsible for that in that moment.
“I am not going to say the players do good or bad. Of course they perform and they are the artists and they make all the decisions they make, the good ones and bad ones, but that is the part of the business.”
City v Arsenal
Our FA Cup fourth round encounter with the Gunners takes place at the Etihad on Friday 27 January, with kick off at 20:00 (UK).
We’ve got you fully covered with comprehensive coverage throughout the evening.
Our Matchday Centre, beginning at 18:00, provides text updates, stats and reaction before, during and after the match with blow-by-blow analysis of the match as it happens.
Just before 19:00, our Matchday Live show features Shaun Goater, Paul Dickov and Michael Brown in the studio as they give you their pre-match thoughts, half-time analysis and full-time verdict.
During the game itself, Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison will guide you through the action with live commentary from 20:00.
After the game, we will have a gallery of the best images from the game, full reaction from the manager and a player - both in written and video format - as well as short and extended highlights.
Subscribers to CITY+ and Recast can enjoy a full-match replay of the whole 90 minutes from midnight while our short and extended highlights will be available from midday on Saturday.
