Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders has issued a rallying cry to his teammates, urging them not to hit the panic button after a damaging week saw the team suffer two consecutive defeats across all competitions.
A Week to Forget for City
The club's impressive momentum came to a shuddering halt with a controversial Premier League loss away at Newcastle United last weekend. This was swiftly followed by a disappointing Champions League defeat at the Etihad Stadium against Bayer Leverkusen, a match for which manager Pep Guardiola later admitted he got his team selection wrong.
Guardiola made a staggering ten changes for the European tie, with Reijnders being one of the fresh faces introduced to the starting line-up. The performance was well below the team's usual standards, leaving the squad and fans alike searching for answers.
Dressing Room Morale Takes a Hit
The mood within the camp is understandably sombre. Stand-in captain John Stones, who led the team out against Leverkusen, provided a candid assessment of the dressing room atmosphere in the aftermath.
"The mood is not good," Stones confirmed. "It's a difficult one to summarise really. A lot of emotion, I think it's going to have to be one we have to look back at." He pinpointed a collective failure, stating the team lacked its characteristic edge. "We weren't good enough as a collective... We didn't have that edge, clinical edge, aggressive edge. We lacked in quite a few things which is uncharacteristic for us."
Looking Ahead to the Leeds Clash
Despite the recent setbacks, Reijnders remains focused on the path forward. He acknowledges the disappointment but is adamant that confidence should not be lost.
"Of course it's a bummer," Reijnders said. "We should not lose our confidence because we did great before and we have to get back on that winning streak and that's by being ready for the next game on Saturday."
He emphasised a calm, game-by-game approach to navigate out of this tricky period. "We should not panic now. Of course losing two times in a row is not a good thing but we know there are still plenty of chances this season and we have to go game to game."
The immediate focus is on the upcoming fixture against Leeds United this Saturday. Following that, City face Fulham and Sunderland before a daunting trip to Real Madrid in the Champions League on December 10.
