Jérémy Doku believes that the start of Manchester City until the Premier League season was marred by the tendency to become negative after he fell behind.
The side of Pep Guardiola claimed an emphatic victory over Wolves on the opening weekend of the new campaign, but have since fallen to beat Tottenham and Brighton.
It represents the worst start of the Spaniard ever in a competition season, and afterwards he suggested that his players were too busy “thinking about the consequences” after taking a first half a lead and “forgot to play”.
‘I think we will drop our heads a bit too much’
Doku, who has international duty with Belgium, has acknowledged that “things are not going well” and believes that the city should show greater resilience in the light of adversity.
“After the first game, everyone felt good,” Doku said to Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan prior to the qualifications of his country. “But after that it became more difficult.
“I think we drop our heads a bit too much if we admit a goal. We have to be stronger mentally.”
This summer, the winger pointed out the involvement of the City at the World Cup club as a possible explanation. The club’s run until the last 16 in the US meant that City had barely fourteen days to prepare for the new campaign and Doku suggested that the team suffered because of this.
‘We hardly had a preseason’
“I only started training again on July 28,” he said. “We hardly had a preseason. The last time I had six weeks before the season was in different segments and that was five years ago.
“But we are not the only ones in this situation. It applies to many other clubs.”
The 23-year-old was limited to the role of a replacement against Tottenham and Brighton, but has sworn to recapture his best shape and sees playing for his country as a good opportunity to do this.
“Personally, I didn’t start the season so well, I’m not in my best form yet,” he said. “You haven’t seen Jeremy at his best yet, but he will come soon. That is why it is important to be here with the Red Devils and to get some confidence.”
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