Pep Guardiola is putting a lot of the blame on himself rather than his Manchester City team

“We have not lost eight games in two seasons. We can't defend that. It's not about this or that player," said the City boss in the wake of the derby defeat to Manchester United.

The 2-1 loss means it is one win in 11 for City as their slump continues with Guardiola and his squad facing questions they are struggling to find answers to. Many believe a move into the January transfer market is imperative, including former Premier League striker Peter Crouch.

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“Manchester City need to buy players, I think. In midfield, they need to strengthen," he said.

“There will be thoughts in his (Guardiola's) head about whether or not he should have signed that two-year contract, because at the moment they're in a real difficult place.

“He's going to find a way back, no doubt. But he's in the most difficult moment of his career.”

Speaking after the defeat to United, Guardiola said: "When you win games, your energy is higher but it's my job. My job is not just to win games or lift trophies - I'm incredibly well paid for that reason to come to the press conferences and listen to the criticisms but maybe in one year we were able to lose eight games in one or two seasons.

"One month [ago] we were top of the league and the only team unbeaten in Europe and after one month and 10 games we lost eight games," he said. "This is a big club, the club of course cannot accept it. I'm still here sitting here in the press conference because of what we have done in the past.

"I promise you I tried. I think managers all round the world when they have big problems work more and think more and talk more to try and get the guys to know that we are still so good. I knew it would be a tough season at the beginning - I said even when we were winning - but I didn't expect it would be so hard like it is right now.