Pep Guardiola takes the blame for Manchester City's collapse and admits that “a victory does not solve all our problems”

Pep Guardiola says he blames himself for Manchester City's malaise and has warned his team's victory at Leicester could prove a false dawn.

City's victory over Ruud van Nistelrooy's relegation fighters was just their second in 14 games, a run that leaves the Premier League champions in a battle for the top four. Although trapped by an injury crisis, Guardiola accepted the blame in a show of personal anguish against City's hosts, West Ham.

“I'm incredibly honest with myself about the reasons why we got here, and that's me,” Guardiola said. 'It's not the players. I blame (myself). It's not about saying: 'Oh, how nice Pep is?' It's the truth.

'I lead that group of players and I couldn't lift them up. This is the reality. There's something I'm missing, something I'm not doing right.

'When you lose a lot of games, the coach has an incredible responsibility to feel something that the team needs to have confidence. And I couldn't do it.'

Guardiola is often self-critical but opened up about his mistakes, suggesting he had sometimes misread the dressing room and suggesting his behind-the-scenes messages have not inspired a team that has fallen 14 points behind leaders Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola (pictured above) says he blames himself for Manchester City's malaise and has warned his team's victory at Leicester could prove a false dawn.

City's victory over Ruud van Nistelrooy's relegation fighters was only their second in 14 games, a run that leaves the Premier League champions in a battle for the top four.

Reinforcements would help as City hope to be busy in the transfer market. Ederson at Atalanta, Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush and Lens centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov are targets in key areas of the pitch.

But Guardiola is cautious about doing business in the notoriously difficult January window and seems more concerned about finding a formula to stop the slide.

“We were the only undefeated team in Europe and leaders of the League (in October),” he added. 'We immediately fell. For injuries, we have talked about many things. But even with that,

I should have found a way to get better results.

“We have to recover our game because we were lucky in Leicester. We had spirit, we ran and we had desire, of course, but we have to play better.

“I told the players many times that I knew their level. We need that level and we haven't had it.”

'How is the team compared to the last eight years? We are not there. I don't deny it. One result is not going to change my perspective on where the team is right now. We won a game.

'But hopefully the results can help with our confidence and composure. “Sometimes you know you need a change to lift the team.”