Pep Guardiola wants Erling Haaland and his Manchester City teammates to question if they played with enough hunger during their troubled season
Haaland recently said City's players "haven't had fully the hunger inside" throughout a campaign that ranks as one of the worst in Guardiola's glittering reign.
After winning the Premier League for six of the last seven seasons and clinching a historic treble in 2023, City are still not guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League and could finish without silverware for the first time since 2017.
Guardiola has been at a loss to explain City's malaise at times this term, but he conceded his players should discuss whether their appetite for success had been sated.
"If it's the feeling from Erling, the players should talk to each other and ask themselves why," Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
City's form has improved in recent weeks and they are now in third place after a seven-game unbeaten run in the league.
They also face Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final at Wembley on May 17.
But Guardiola believes it is too soon to suggest that his players' desire has completely returned.
"We can do better, we are happy with the results we have but the situation comes back when we have sustained it for many, many months. It was just three or four weeks," he said.
Haaland, City's top scorer this season with 30 goals, is set to feature when his side travel to relegated Southampton on Saturday.
The Norway striker, who has not played since sustaining an ankle problem at Bournemouth in March, was an unused substitute in the victory over Wolves last week.
"He's ready, he's fit. Whether he starts, we'll decide tomorrow," Guardiola said.
The battle for Champions League qualification via a top five finish is set to go down to the wire.
With three games left, City hold a three-point advantage over sixth-placed Nottingham Forest.
Fourth-placed Newcastle are playing fifth-placed Chelsea on Sunday, giving City a chance to pull away from one of their top five rivals.
However, Guardiola is not taking anything for granted against bottom of the table Southampton, who have collected just 11 points in a dismal campaign.
"We start 0-0 and it's a massively important game for us. There are just three games left and after this it is two. We have huge respect for them," he said.
"There are six or seven teams who can qualify so we have to make our points and if we make three victories we will be there.
"It is in our hands. We don't need to wait on anything else. Win one game, then the next one and the next one."