Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City’s players that any festive excess will come at a cost, with a Christmas Day weigh in planned to ensure no one returns from the brief break out of shape.
City maintained the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal with a comfortable 3 0 win over West Ham on Saturday, extending their winning run to five league matches. Yet the victory did little to soften Guardiola’s famously exacting standards, as he revealed that his players had already been weighed before being released for a short Christmas break.
“Every player makes a weight,” Guardiola said. “They come back on the 25th and I will be there controlling how many kilos come up. They can eat but I want to control them.”
The City manager said any player who reported back overweight would be left out of the squad for the match away to Nottingham Forest on 27 December. “Imagine one player arrives with three kilos more,” he said. “He will stay in Manchester. He will not travel to Nottingham Forest.”
Despite the warning, Guardiola insisted it was important for players to mentally switch off during an unforgiving festive schedule. He said rest with family was essential if they were to return refreshed for the next run of matches. Guardiola himself plans to spend the short break in Barcelona.
“The schedule is so tight and the players have to forget football for a moment,” he said. “The moment of the game they will be fresh in the legs. To see the manager every day is so tough.”
Even so, the City squad were not granted immediate respite after beating West Ham. Guardiola admitted he refused requests for a day off, saying the performance did not meet his standards.
“They asked for a day off. I said no because you didn’t play good enough,” he said, adding that after a recovery session and training for non starters, his players would then be given three days away before preparing for Forest.
