David Moyes says he is responsible for Manchester United's drastic decline following their 10th Premier League defeat of the season at home to Manchester City.
United lost 3-0 for the second successive League home game as Edin Džeko bagged a brace and Yaya Touré added gloss to an emphatic City win. The Blues have now won on their last three visits to Old Trafford by an aggregate scoreline of 11-2, but it is the present which will concern United's owners, the Glazer family, as Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to appoint Moyes as his successor becomes harder to justify with every week.
United had never lost 10 matches in a single campaign during the Premier League era before Tuesday night, and have suffered six home defeats for the first time since 2001-02.
"I take responsibility for the team and I always will do," Moyes said. "I think tonight we came up against a good side, we were going into the game in pretty good form ourselves, and we wanted to have a go at it. Conceding early just put us back on the back foot. I don't think tonight was in any way down to a lack of effort or a lack of commitment. Maybe just in some areas we didn't play up to scratch.
"I said I'll take responsibility because I'm the one who plays them and picks them. Some of them can play better but there's a lot of really good players in this squad, a lot of international players and players who, on their day, can be a match for most clubs."
United conceded Džeko's first after 42 seconds and the City striker doubled the visitors' advantage just 11 minutes after the restart.
"We never started well and it didn't give us a great opportunity to get into the game," Moyes added. "Man City started really fast and conceding a goal after 30 or 40 seconds made it difficult. And we had to just try and make sure we got through that 10-minute period when they came out the blocks. I thought, after that, we weathered it, we worked ourselves back into the game and finished the half strong.
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"But the key to it was not to lose a second goal, so we could always give ourselves a chance of getting back in it, but I didn't think we started the second-half well, I thought we brought pressure on us.
"We just never came out of the blocks. You prepare the players, you warm them up, you have them ready when they go out but we just never started well enough and it gave them a real big lift to get a goal so early on in the game.
"I said after half-time we want to start the second-half stronger, we need to play in their half of the pitch, but we never really got that. It was the same from the kick-off... We touched it about twice. I think we had a block and might have got a throw-in. So we never really got a grip of the game in any way from the start. You've got to be ready and we'll try and achieve that next time."
Ferguson finished his final season 11 points ahead of City, but 10 months on, City are 15 ahead of United with two games in hand as they attempt to regain their title.
"Everybody knows this is gonna be a job which is gonna take a little bit of time to get the way we would like it. That's the job and I recognise that," Moyes acknowledged. He described the chasm between the two Manchester sides as "disappointing".
"I thought it would be a tough year for us but I hoped we would be much more competitive and closer to the top of the league than we are at the present time."
Moyes described United's rebuilding job already as "underway". The Guardian reported the club have "provisionally agreed" deals for two players, but it is becoming doubtful they will play under Moyes.
As Moyes stood up to leave, one journalist informed him United legend Paul Scholes, working as a pundit for Sky Sports, had criticised club-record signing Juan Mata's effect at the club since he signed from Chelsea two months ago.
"I thought Mata played really well tonight," Moyes replied. And then he was gone.