Manchester City defender Ruben Dias has sent a clear message to the club’s rivals insisting that they ‘doubt’ Pep Guardiola’s side this season.
The Premier League champions are currently on a run of four matches without a draw or a win, having lost in the Carabao Cup fourth round, Premier League, and UEFA Champions League over the last fortnight.
Pep Guardiola has insisted that the defeats against Tottenham and Sporting in the League Cup and in Europe were not as bad as they seemed, with performances seemingly encouraging across the board in North London and in the first-half in Portugal.
The latter viewpoint was also taken of the 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, having dominated proceedings fort he opening 45 minutes while the loss to Bournemouth has been accepted as being a deserved result due to a poor showing from the Etihad club.
Some in football have taken the early conclusion that Manchester City are experiencing a total decline this season and that they cannot be considered for the pieces of major silverware, despite not even reaching the halfway point in the campaign.
Speaking outside the House of Lords in London as part of an anti-bullying campaign, Ruben Dias told reporters on Manchester City’s run of four successive defeats across competitions, “Difficult to say. Last season we had a tough period around the same time before Christmas.”
He continued, “Even the treble season. I think when we did the treble, we even call it [as a joke] the dark January. We had a tough period over then.
“Always what matters is how you bounce back from these moments, and that’s why our team has won so much because in moments of difficulty, the characters come up and we stay together.
“We don’t find people to kill. We find people to bring into the cause and fight together and that’s what we need to do once again.”
Hinting upon the staggering amount of success achieved by Manchester City and himself since joining the club in the summer of 2020, Ruben Dias continued, “It’s our legacy at stake. Even though we’ve won so much, it’s very easy to choose to relax and just accept it.
“Accept the fact that we’ve done enough. But you’ve only done enough when you’re finished and we’re all very aware of it and we all want to keep pushing.”
When asked what he would say to those who are already writing off Manchester City in their pursuit of silverware this season, the Portugal international responded bluntly, “Please doubt us.”
Ruben Dias is absent from the Portugal squad this week due to a lack of fitness and will likely return for Manchester City ahead of their home meeting against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday 23 October.
