Manager wants to be in “control” as City keep pressure firmly on Arsenal
Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players that anyone who puts on weight over the Christmas holidays will not play against Nottingham Forest on 27 December. City’s players were given three days off.
After their 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday, the manager revealed that players were weighed before the match and will be weighed again when they report back to training on Christmas Day.
Any noticeable increase, Guardiola warned, will have consequences when he selects his squad to face Forest.
“Every player make a weight [on Friday],” Guardiola said. “They come back on the 25th and I will be there controlling how many kilos come up. The moment they arrive after three days [off] I want to see how they come back. They can eat, but I want to control them.
“I have to make a selection against Nottingham Forest. Imagine one player and now he’s perfect but he will arrive with three kilos more. He will [stay] in Manchester. He will not travel to Nottingham Forest.”
City sit second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Arsenal, and appear well placed in the title race. But Guardiola has already made it clear he is dissatisfied with aspects of his team’s play and warned them this week that performance levels needed to be better.
“The players asked me to take a day off [on Sunday], I said, no, because you didn’t play good enough,” Guardiola said. “Recovery, train the guys that didn’t play, and after three days off, you have two days to prepare for Nottingham Forest.”
The City manager said that despite the congested calendar, the players have been given a few days off because it is necessary to unwind.
“The schedule is so tight and the players have to forget,” said Guardiola. “The players have to go with the families and forget football.”
