ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Pep Guardiola has offered words of encouragement to his Manchester City players after the 1-1 Boxing Day draw against Everton meant their startling form slump now stands at one win in 13 matches.
Bernardo Silva’s 14th-minute opener was cancelled out by Iliman Ndiaye’s clever finish before halftime and City’s confidence struggles were again laid bare after Erling Haaland had a penalty saved by Jordan Pickford early in the second period.
Akanji was partly culpable for Ndiaye’s goal as he and Rico Lewis failed to cut out Abdoulaye Doucoure’s cross but otherwise put in a typically assured performance at centre-back alongside the returning Nathan Ake.
The strain on City’s defenders in the injury absence of midfield lynchpin Rodri was once again achingly apparent, even against Everton’s limited attacking threat, but Akanji insists Guardiola and his players remain committed to the methods that secured a record fourth consecutive Premier League title last season.
What Pep Guardiola told Man City players after Everton draw
“He said we played well,” the Switzerland international told reporters. “We need to keep on working. There’s nothing else we can do at the moment.
“What do you expect us to do? Change system? Play other players? We’re trying everything and we played really well [against Everton], it just didn’t turn our way.”
Guardiola’s mantra is in line with Akanji’s own thinking.
A steal of a signing from Borussia Dortmund for £15m towards the end of the summer 2022 window, the 29-year-old has been a pivotal part of City winning six major trophies over the subsequent period.
Outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain and Guardiola need to uncover a couple of similar gems this January — signings who immediately back themselves and thrive within the demanding environment of the City Football Academy.
“I always change some things,” Akanji said, discussing how he has personally met with this troubling run of collective form.
“There are things that feel good to me right now but I’m also not that guy who changes everything when things go wrong that I believed in before.
“We as a team were able to play this way before and sometimes you have a bad run and things don’t go your way so it’s good to look at things that aren’t working out that well right now, but you shouldn’t be at the point where you’re changing everything because not everything was good before and not everything is bad now.
“I still believe that we will come back to the way we used to play — it will come sooner or later.”
Which Man City players are injured?
An easing of City’s injury situation would certainly help things to come around sooner.
Akanji and Ake have each spent time on the sidelines during the downturn and started against Everton because Ruben Dias and John Stones were both sidelined with recurrences of their own fitness woes.
Last season’s FA Youth Cup-winning captain Jahmai Simpson-Pusey replaced Ake during the closing stages on Boxing Day to preserve the Dutchman’s fragile fitness.
Captain Kyle Walker was laid low by illness, Jack Grealish and Matheus Nunes missed out through injury and Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were only fit enough for brief cameos off a bench filled out with youngsters.
“It’s really difficult,” Akanji said after goalkeeper Ederson also missed the Everton game alongside long-term absentees Rodri and Oscar Bobb.
“Everybody wants to stay fit, nobody wants to be injured but the most important thing is that players that are healthy need to stay healthy but it’s not always that easy when you play so many matches a year and you don’t really have time to recover.
“I have friends of mine [in the Bundesliga] who are on holidays now recovering for the second part of the season. We don’t have that.
“We need to try to find a way that these players playing now stay healthy so that we can get the other guys back and rotate a bit more and rest those that need to rest.”
Guardiola’s side return to action on December 29 with a trip to face Leicester City.
