Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne revealed how manager Pep Guardiola urged his team to retain belief despite their winless run.
City are winless in five matches after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday.
Despite still sitting top of the table, Guardiola's men have been questioned for their possession-based style.
De Bruyne said the Spaniard had taken time to call on his team to retain belief after their latest draw.
"He just told us to believe. He doesn't want us to have doubts in the way that we are playing," the Belgian told the Daily Mail.
"He wanted to make sure that we know the way we are playing now is the good way. That was the message. There are a lot of risks in how we play, we know that.
"I know this is not a very patient world but we are trying something very new. There will be ups and downs.
"Other teams will adapt to us but everything will be OK in the end. We know we have to learn everything perfectly for this to work."
De Bruyne said the busy run of games, which continue with a trip to Manchester United in the EFL Cup on Wednesday, had made it hard for City to work on their style.
But the 25-year-old said his team simply needed to focus on making fewer mistakes.
"We are playing all the time so we don't really have real sessions and that's hard," De Bruyne said.
"The goals that we have conceded have been more like mistakes from us, rather than us being blown apart. So if we can minimise them it will be better for us, we know that."
