Guardiola suggests title is out of reach for Manchester City
Pep Guardiola is a realist.
After Manchester City was blasted 4-0 by Everton on Sunday in a humbling clash at Goodison Park, Guardiola - whose side now sits in fifth place, 10 points adrift of league leader Chelsea - seemed to admit the title is out of reach for the Citizens.
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Asked if City's chances at capturing the league crown had evaporated with Sunday's loss, the Spaniard told a news conference: "By the first one (Chelsea)? Yeah. Ten points is a lot of points. The second one (Tottenham) is three points. We have to see.
"I spoke to my players the last three weeks or a month, forget about the table. Focus on the next game and try to do our best to win the games and after that at the end of the season we are going to evaluate how our level and performance was - how was the coach, how was the players and after we are going to decide."
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Guardiola bemoaned his side's inability to capitalise on a solid first-half performance, correctly noting that Everton, which scored four times from as many shots on target, was devastating in front of goal on the day.
"We were not able to score and they had one chance and scored," Guardiola said. "They scored straight after the (start of the) second half and that is tough mentally for the players.
"Of course we can do better. It is awful for my players.
"I said to the players to be positive because they have done fantastic things in this season but didn't always get what we deserve. I think all managers can say this, though."