The 83-match sprint doesn’t have much of a ring to it but that is what Manchester City are in the throes of preparing for.
Their season starts properly on Wednesday with the introduction of the Champions League, constant midweeks and no rest. From here there is no looking back.
It brings to mind the moment when Pep Guardiola beamed a picture of a mountain up on screen during an inspirational post-Treble address to his players, telling them they were at the bottom again after reaching its summit in beating Wednesday night’s opponents, Inter.
Given what needs scaling now – expanded competitions, an unprecedented number of games – that mountain might feel like a gentle mound.
What stood before them crystalised during a Premier League club visit in August when the upcoming calendar flashed up on the very same screen as Guardiola’s peak.
Pep Guardiola’s Man City could potentially end up playing 83 matches this season
A PowerPoint blur of colour codes for different competitions, week after week, month after month. Having seen very little visible block of white space for recuperation, eyes were popping out of heads from the assembled audience.
The numbers are staggering and a source of constant chatter inside the City dressing room. Possibly 73 matches for their club, were they to reach every final, and another 10 at international level – including games just days before an expanded Club World Cup in June. Their most congested season was 61 games; Real Madrid and Manchester United’s were 66.
This is on another level altogether. Hardly surprising, therefore, that there is a massed rank of dissenters.
City’s campaign might not finish until mid-July, a full 12 months after they reported for pre-season training, and some at the club are already fretting about what 2025-26 looks like.
In raising the prospect of a strike, Rodri joined a growing number of stars speaking out on it after Alisson had desecrated the larger Champions League. Bernardo Silva calls the current status quo ‘absolutely absurd’. Kevin De Bruyne’s had a dig.
It can all be of little interest to Guardiola though. Nobody can impact those problems in the short-term and how players regenerate between matches has now become the most important marginal gain at the very highest level.
Rodri joined a growing number of stars speaking out on the schedule and going on strike
The players, by and large, don’t differ in quality among the best and thus it is how you use them. City, always freshest in that final dash to the line, are shown to be consistently ahead in that area.
Guardiola and his players possess everything they need to succeed. Like the built-in cryotherapy chamber at the City Football Academy – quicker and more efficient than ice baths – or dry flotation beds, or their £3,000 zero gravity reclining and multi-sensory sound vibration therapy loungers, all designed to mitigate any additional stresses on the body.
An altitude chamber, where players work out on exercise bikes in temperatures of up to 40 degrees, is used heavily. That might need cranking up more and more as the peak of the mountain grows ever taller.
Some sources place the ability to squeeze the most out of the squad squarely on Guardiola. How he barely bothers with pre-season, how training is described as ‘short and sharp,’ intense bitesize sessions.
How he takes on board advice from the medical department about red zones and workloads more than contemporaries – evidenced when hearing Rodri and Silva’s requests for rests last year, awarding them time off, or affording players longer holidays.
City have invested in £3,000 zero gravity reclining and multi-sensory sound vibration therapy loungers, all designed to mitigate any additional stresses on the body
The chairs enable audio to be felt, acting like a restorative, calming musical massage as vibrations pulsate throughout the body
The loungers provides a full-body vibration experience throughout your back and down to your glutes and calves
City have built-in cryotherapy chambers at the City Football Academy – which are quicker and more efficient than ice baths. Pictured here are the ones used by athletes at the Olympics
Footballers and athletes will use these high-tech pieces of equipment to mitigate any additional stresses on the body. Here, nitrogen gas escapes from a cryotherapy chamber
‘I’ve seen players come in from other clubs who look at it and think pre-season is relatively easy,’ one source said. ‘It’s just his way. It’s quite interesting.’
Recovery is an area of serious concern for all of those at the very top and Guardiola quickly cottoned onto it, regularly shuffling his pack. Although while operating as a heavy rotator, he did send a reminder of standards ahead of Inter. ‘I want to rotate but they have to prove that they are ready to play,’ the Catalan said. ‘I don’t give presents.’
Even with all that, four of his players – Rodri, Phil Foden, Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker – recorded more than 5,000 minutes last year.
How City’s physio room – where players are given massages and general treatments – has become the hub of the training ground speaks volumes to its importance.
Led by performance director Simon Timson – formerly of the Lawn Tennis Association and UK Sport, key in Olympic triumphs – the club place significant weight on what happens away from the grass.
City’s physio room – led by performance director Simon Timson (pictured) – is where the club place significant weight on what happens away from the grass
Phil Foden (left) and Kyle Walker (right) recorded more than 5,000 minutes last year
Physical data from international duty is shared by countries – with Erling Haaland even accompanied by his own physio when with Norway – with Gareth Southgate a regular visitor while England boss.
Some of it bucks trends. Unlike most of their rivals, when City travel to Bratislava for their second European fixture of the season in a fortnight, they will not travel back until the morning after, instead staying in Slovakia.
There will be a light meal before bed – Guardiola and his staff stay up significantly later – and then a gentle recovery session and time in a swimming pool in the morning, rather than flying straight back. Every hotel must have a pool.
That in itself does have an effect on players, who have taken to talking about the mental fatigue of the schedule – which includes endless nights away from home and families – but the more restful nature of travelling back has major sporting benefits.
Those are City’s primary concern and it is noticeable that when on international duty in this country, players may hop in cars to make four-hour journeys home following the final match of a camp – something, you suspect, would likely not happen on their club’s watch.
Recovery is an area of serious concern for those at the top and Guardiola cottoned onto it
Guardiola and his players possess everything they need to succeed at their training ground
The major plus for Guardiola this time is that City have started like a train. They usually begin fairly well in terms of results, before the adrenaline of returning wears off and they hit a sticky patch, yet the level of performances this time have been objectively higher.
‘Most of these games are covered by mental strength,’ Rodri said. ‘You have to try to be strong, to try get the machine rolling again by winning or performing well. The start of the season was great for us because the earlier you get into this run, the easier it is to continue in the season.
‘That is the key, trying to be as fit as possible and try to make the focus and mental health be strong. I had one month and after I need to recover a bit also so I had two months and that was great for me to stop a little bit and prepare myself.
‘It is even more important nowadays to do these kind of things, not come and do an early pre-season. Football is changing in that way. It helps me a lot to stop.’
