Back from his break, but Guardiola fears players at breaking point

Pep insisted the demands on players, once the midweek fixtures kick in, is asking too much

HEAVY WORKLOAD: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola with Kyle Walker and Erling Haaland. Pic: Steven Paston/PA Wire

PEP GUARDIOLA said he was happy to be back after an enforced break, but he had a funny way of showing it.

In different measure, he was delighted, proud, happy and even surprised with how well his team played to come back from a goal down with three second-half strikes to maintain their 100% record five games into their latest defence of the Premier League title.

In his first match since recent back surgery and the first for his players since the international 'break', the Manchester City manager warned he would have to start playing his 'second team' to combat injury problems and get through a dense fixture list.

The Catalan coach is attempting to mastermind the defence of his first Champions League crown too and that competition resumes this week with the visit of Red Star Belgrade to Manchester. 

That should be winnable even if injured players such as John Stones, Kevin de Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic remain sidelined for Tuesday's match against Serbia's reigning Super Liga champions.

But he insisted the demands on players, once the midweek fixtures kick in, is asking too much, especially when they also have to travel the globe for international fixtures, as 15 members of his first team squad did last week.

The price of success? Maybe, but he is hardly a lone voice among Premier League managers in highlighting the physical and mental issues players are increasingly struggling to overcome with each passing hectic season. We are used to hearing about fatigue and injuries further into campaigns, but it is unusual after only four or five matches.

Guardiola summed it up when he said: “We treat the players in not a good way. We are so irresponsible in how we treat the players.

“When you have a lot of injuries the problem is not today, but in three, four, five games. The Carabao Cup away to Newcastle!? I am sorry but there are games when we are going to play with a second team, some players.“ 

That trip to the north east is scheduled for a Wednesday night the week after next. Guardiola usually finds a way through such challenges but seems resigned to a lesser fate this season. After reeling off his injury woes, he insisted he would approach the games ahead differently were it not the case.

He added: “With a full squad you go to Newcastle with a good team and whatever. Now all we can do is just to rest, recover well, train, get fit and try to arrive on the day of the game in the best condition as possible.

“I was on my holidays but these guys (my players) were playing 90 minutes with their national teams. They (Alvarez) travel from Bolivia and Ederson in from Brazil. It is so exhausting for them. Just take a look at how many injuries all the teams have."

It is hard to see how the football calendar will change with the financial rewards so tantalisingly huge for broadcasters, owners, players, and managers alike. The likelihood is they will rest and adjust as well as possible with bigger and bigger squads to fill in the gaps.

On a more positive note, City's outstanding midfielder in this match was Rodri, the player who scored the winning goal against Inter Milan in last season's Champions League final.

Listening to him afterwards, perhaps it was a truer reflection of the inner strength still running through the City camp, as determined as ever to win more silverware. Players never admit to tiredness. They just want to play and let it be known they are targetting four league championships in a row as well as a European defence.

Rodri stated: “In football, you have new goals. Of course, we have the memories of last season, but we want to do it again. We have a structure, a team, and a project to do it again and have more success. It is something you see in the team, that hunger to do it again.” 

West Ham can only dream of such problems, but they too have a European upgrade to cope with this season as they start their Europa League campaign on Thursday night. They too encounter Serbian opposition, with the less familiar sounding Backa Topola on their way to London.

West Ham keeper Alphonse Areola said: “This match shows we are good enough to compete against the best. There are still details we need to improve, but City pushed us and we managed to be strong. They have the players to make the difference in close games. Now we have to be stronger and stay positive going into Thursday.” 

WEST HAM: Areola 7, Coufal 7 (Kehrer 87), Zouma 7, Aguerd 6, Emerson 6, Ward-Prowse 7, Alvarez 6 (Benrahma 68), Soucek 7 (Ings 87), Bowen 7 , Paqueta 6, Antonio 6 (Kudus 67) 

Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Fornal, Mavropanos, Ogbonna

MAN CITY: Ederson 7, Walker 7, Ruben Dias 6, Akanji 6, Gvardiol 6 (Ake 90), Rodri 8, Bernardo Silva 7 (Bobb 90), Doku 7 (Gomez 90), Alvarez 7, Foden 6 (Nunes 67), Haaland 7 (Lewis 90)

Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips.

Ref: Andy Madley 6