Guardiola says Manchester City's drop in intensity 'didn't surprise me'

City face Manchester United in derby on Saturday with Erik ten Hag's team in form

Phil Foden, right, and Erling Haaland both scored hat-tricks in Manchester City's 6-3 Premier League win over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, October 2, 2022. Reuters

Manchester City's Erling Haaland scores their fifth goal and completes his hat-trick. Reuters

Erling Haaland celebrates scoring City's second goal. Getty

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. EPA

Erling Haaland celebrates scoring Manchester City's third goal - and his second. PA

Erling Haaland scores City's third goal. Getty

City's Erling Haaland celebrates after completing his hat-trick. AP

Erling Haaland heads home City's second goal. Getty

Phil Foden celebrates after giving Manchester City an early lead. Getty

Phil Foden scores City's sixth goal and completes his hat-trick. Reuters

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. Getty

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne sees an early chance saved by David de Gea. PA

Anthony Martial heads home Manchester United's second goal. Getty

City's Erling Haaland after a missed chance. Reuters

Phil Foden puts City 1-0 up. PA

Antony after pulling one back for Manchester United. Getty

Phil Foden scores City's fourth goal. PA

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. Reuters

Phil Foden celebrates scoring his second and City's fourth. Getty

Anthony Martial scores United's third goal from the penalty spot. Reuters.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he is not surprised by a dip in his team's high standards this season despite his efforts to avoid it.

City crashed out of the League Cup against struggling Southampton on Wednesday and trail Arsenal by five points at the top of the Premier League.

After the 2-0 quarter-final defeat at St Mary's, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan blamed a lack of hunger from the league champions.

"What happened didn't surprise me," Guardiola said on the eve of City's visit to Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday. "I tried to avoid it.

"It happened and hopefully it won't happen again but it's happened because we did four Premier Leagues in five years. Sometimes you have to reset.

"This was our strength as a team in previous seasons but after back-to-back titles two times, this can happen. We were not ready to go there and be ourselves."

City face a huge week in the title race, with their visit to Old Trafford followed by a clash against Tottenham on Thursday. Guardiola said he wants a strong display from his team against their neighbours.

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford celebrates with teammates after scoring the second goal in the 3-0 League Cup quarter-final win against Charlton Athletic at Old Trafford on January 10, 2023. AP

Marcus Rashford scores United's third goal past Charlton goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer. AP

Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring the second goal. AFP

Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring United's second goal. AP

United midfielder Antony celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal. AFP

Antony, right, celebrates with Diogo Dalot. AP

Antony celebrates after scoring the opening goal. AP

'Fred The Red' greets Manchester United's Dutch manager Erik ten Hag before the match. AFP

United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka tackles Charlton's Corey Blackett-Taylor. AFP

Fred hits the post with a free-kick. AFP

Anthony Elanga of Manchester United battles for possession with Lucas Ness. Getty

Charlton Athletic's Scott Fraser takes a free kick. Reuters

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag with Christian Eriksen. Reuters

Charlton's Australian goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer gathers the ball. AFP

United's Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia battles with Charlton's Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. AFP

"Of course, it's an important week," added the City boss. "After what happened at Southampton, the last thing I'm worried about is the titles or this kind of thing.

"It's to recover who you are day, week, day, week, day, week, game by game. This is what we have to do. In important games this season, in the important ones, we were there -- in all competitions."

Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag believes Saturday's derby against City will show whether his United side are ready to challenge for the top honours again.

United were beaten handily when the sides last met in October, losing 6-3 at the Etihad having trailed 4-0 at half-time, but since then they have lost only one of 18 fixtures and they go into the game on an eight-game winning streak.

Victory for United would leave them one point behind City in the league and only increase the emphasis on their trip to face league leaders Arsenal on January 22.

Ten Hag said he was not interested in comparing his side to City but he recognises the bar the reigning champions have set.

"Of course if you want to win trophies you have to compete with the best and Manchester City are the best so we look forward to challenging them," he said. "We will see [if there is a gap] tomorrow."

Saturday will be the second match between Ten Hag and Guardiola, the man who was in charge of Bayern Munich when Ten Hag was coaching their reserve team between 2013 and 2015.

Ten Hag said he did not have time to describe everything he had learned from the Catalan during their time together, but he was clearer when asked about the most important thing.

"To be proactive," he said. "Football is about results but you want to do it in a certain way. To be proactive, adventurous, but also to entertain. Top football is about winning but also entertaining the fans. You play football for the fans."