Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his squad won’t be fully fit for the first few competitive games of the season.
The Premier League champions take on rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield on August 10th before their first Premier League fixture a week later against Chelsea. Asked about how his squad is shaping up ahead of the new campaign, Guardiola replied:
“We will arrive late but not (just) against Manchester United, against Chelsea and Ipswich too. We will be late. It’s about trying not to drop many points, try to compete well. We don’t have players because they have to rest.”
“If the big bosses and all the institutions like FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League don’t think about the players then the managers have to think about them, otherwise they will die. It’s too much. That’s why three weeks or one month is necessary, but the competition is there and you have to adapt.”
The Club World Cup will be playing on Guardiola’s mind
FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup will take place next June and there is a potential for City to play more than 70 matches in all competitions if they make it to the latter stages of every tournament they are involved in.
Erling Haaland has already spoken out to say that players can’t be expected to stay “sharp” if they are asked to play that amount of football in a single season.
City are accustomed to slow starts
It has generally been the case in recent years that the Cityzens start off the campaign playing relatively poorly before improving as the months go on.
As Guardiola says, the players are deliberately undercooked heading into the season and it seems like it works in terms of staying fresh until the final league game in May.
Find out who is in Manchester City’s first-team squad for 2024/2025 season here
