'Too much quality' in Man City's squad for dismal run to continue, says Ortega

Stefan Ortega believes there is "too much quality" in Manchester City's squad for their poor run to roll on much longer.

The reigning Premier League champions are going through a wretched run, with last weekend's 2-1 away defeat to Aston Villa leaving them with just one win from their last 12 games in all competitions, having lost nine of them.

This streak has seen City drop to seventh in the Premier League, while they sit 22nd in the Champions League and are in serious danger of missing out on the play-offs for the last 16 with just two matchdays left.

Goalkeeper Ortega put City's struggles down to a series of injuries to key players, which in turn have resulted in a lack of fluency in their matches due to manager Pep Guardiola being forced to change the side regularly.

He told the club's official website: "We are all humans. I think it is just normal there is a point where you struggle a little bit and with all the injured players we have.

"You don't get the good rhythm of all the players playing with each other."

Boxing Day at home #MCIEVE | #AsahiSuperDry pic.twitter.com/PDdi0E9ip9

— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 22, 2024

Ortega is confident the team will return to form quickly due to the sheer amount of quality in the squad, which has helped shape one of English football's great dynasties ever since Guardiola won his first Premier League title in 2018.

"When you come here, you see all the quality on the pitch, the manager we have, staff, you know there will be a turnaround soon," said Ortega.

"We created a legacy here and we have the chance now to switch this again and show that we are able to go through a bad phase and get up again.

"There's too much quality here and I think quite soon we will win games again. We have showed we are able to win a few games in a row as well."

City have already lost nine games in all competitions this term, and only in 2019-20 (12) and 2016-17 (10) have City lost more matches in a season under Guardiola.

In fact, those campaigns are the only seasons Guardiola has lost more matches as a manager than he already has in 2024-25.

City will hope to get back on track when they host Everton on Boxing Day.