Following a hard-fought 1-1 draw with rivals Liverpool on Saturday, Pep Guardiola of Manchester City stated that his team had barely had time to practice before taking on the Reds in the pivotal Premier League match.
He added that after winning the treble the previous season, the Cityzens had very little time to prepare during the preseason.
What Guardiola Said?
After the match against Liverpool, Guardiola told reporters, “I don’t train for seven years.” 35 minutes at most. We don’t practice. Do you know what 15 days is? They began pre-season 15 days earlier. We watched the finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League. They had the new players for a further fifteen days. We did not engage in a single tactical workday. We train the day before, and I’m pretty sure Jurgen [Klopp, the manager of Liverpool] does the same thing. We played ball for ten to fifteen minutes and defense for ten minutes.
“It will be ten minutes on the pitch, moving in that direction, before Tuesday. We are not able to train. We won’t have players for the upcoming game if we train.
They are not with us. For this reason, we must learn from the past: just realize what needs to be done. The press leaps for joy. This is our sole source of dependence.
In addition, the manager gave a status report on John Stones, who was on the bench but did not participate in the game.
“He feels good, but we would like to give him a week or two to do proper strength training sessions,” he stated. We value John so much, and I enjoy watching him play when he’s fully prepared. He will train with us, either fully or partially. In particular, his legs, to make sure he is stronger when he returns. We then make use of him and require him.”
