Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has taken a hardline stance on fitness during the festive break, warning his players that any sign of weight gain will cost them a place in the team. As City pushes to keep pace with league leaders Arsenal, Guardiola is leaving nothing to chance despite the holiday period.
City cruised to a 3-0 Premier League win over West Ham, extending their winning run, but the Spaniard made it clear that success will not lead to leniency. Before allowing a short Christmas break, Guardiola ensured every player’s weight was officially recorded.
“𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕,” 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Pep Guardiola Threatens Bench for Overweight Players
The City manager stressed that discipline will be strictly enforced ahead of the upcoming clash against Nottingham Forest on December 27. Guardiola confirmed that any player returning overweight will be left behind.
“𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅.
While he acknowledged the importance of rest in a congested schedule, he insisted that professionalism must be maintained. Players were allowed time off to be with their families, but the manager expects them to return sharp and ready.
He himself is spending a brief break in Barcelona, though his focus remains firmly on preparation. Even after a fifth straight league victory, he refused to give his squad immediate time off, citing performance levels.
“The players asked for a day off, but I said no. We trained, then they got three days off. Now we prepare again,” Guardiola added.
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