Pep Guardiola had unexpected response for Liverpool as Man City problems mount

So Pep Guardiola is not done with the Premier League just yet then. The Manchester City manager's new contract will take the Catalan past the 10-year point at the Etihad and only he will know how much recent weeks have been a factor in that decision.

Eighteen trophies and six Premier Leagues - with the distinct possibility of more to come this term, of course - might have been enough of a haul for Guardiola to have contemplated walking off into the sunset with the sort of emotional goodbye that was reserved for Jurgen Klopp when he ended his own nine-year association with Liverpool earlier this year.

Instead, Guardiola has narrowed his gaze and steeled his resolve for more battles at the sharp end of the Premier League and, while the backdrop of the deal might be entirely coincidental, it's interesting to note the fresh terms come on the back of the worst run of his career to date.

Has he looked to overcorrect what, for most coaches, would be considered only a minor lull in form? Or does the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach feel the need to rebuild significantly during the remainder of his new terms and leave the Etihad with the sort of squad that was gifted to Arne Slot earlier this summer at Anfield? Does Guardiola's contract extension hint at deeper, wider problems on the pitch for the champions?

Four straight losses across three different competitions have left Guardiola's City five points behind Slot's Reds in the Premier League, out of the Carabao Cup, and 10th in the revamped Champions League table. It's hardly a crisis., but when you're of a profile of Guardiola, such a run is debated and discussed as such, particularly when your rivals keep winning to leapfrog you into top spot.

Beyond the confines of the pitch itself, however, the issues are piling up for City: the imminent departure of Txiki Begiristain, a close confidant from Guardiola's Barcelona days, as director of football; the uncertainty around the 115 financial charges, for which City deny wrongdoing; the unsavoury fallout from Benjamin Mendy's decision to sue the club for £11m in unpaid earnings, plus their own litigation against the Premier League's Associated Party Transaction Rules. Combine all the above and it could be argued, with justification, that Guardiola might finally have had his fill.

There won't have been many who would have blamed him had he reached the same conclusion. His genius is being diluted by the troubles of City's ownership group.

"Part of me is leaving," he said when it was confirmed that Begiristian was set for pastures new. "[He is] a friend of mine, an architect who created one of the best teams at Barcelona and here. Personally he will be missed a lot. He made me balanced in this job. I'm so energetic and when we lose I want to destroy everything and he always said 'take a moment'. We have to move on, and the club will move on."

Speaking after the 2-1 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, Guardiola also said: "Maybe after seven years winning six Premier Leagues, maybe one year another team deserve[s] it." It sounded like a coach whose wearying limbs were growing heavier with each setback.

Perhaps now, though, it scans more like the typically sarcastic and often ironic Guardiola simply reminding us all how successful he has been. He now has the chance to remind us all over again, but a five-point deficit to Liverpool could become eight (or more) if things continue to go against them up until their visit to Anfield a week on Sunday.

Perhaps driven by a desire to emerge victorious once more from the most difficult spell of his career, which is what this period must be considered when the aforementioned factors are stacked up underneath this unprecedented run of recent defeats, Guardiola is ready to go to the well once more at the Etihad.

The question marks that hung over Guardiola's future have been cited as a reason for the difficult run, while the season-long injury to midfield lynchpin Rodri and the struggles of Kevin De Bruyne to get up to 100% have also been used as mitigation. Guardiola has done a masterful job of keeping the juggernaut chundering on remorselessly but at some point, those off-the-field problems and how much they are actually now seeping into the dressing room becomes a pertinent talking point.

But while a Guardiola extension might not necessarily be good news for Liverpool, who are the only other club to have won the Premier League in the last six seasons, Slot himself might just be quietly welcoming the opportunity to pit his coaching wits against arguably the greatest beyond just this term. Steel sharpens steel, as the old saying goes.

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