Magnanimous and inflexible. Pep Guardiola gave 72 hours free to the players of Manchester City after the 3-0 victory over West Ham: “Since I arrived in England I have learned that, when possible, it is right to take days off. The calendar is very busy and the players have to take a break. By the time of the match they will have fresh legs.” The Catalan coach knows well, however, that free time during the holidays is mainly spent at the table. And, among a thousand temptations, not going astray and maintaining the line is really complicated.
The warning: “You will be checked on your return”
Manic as he is, Guardiola put all the players in the squad on the scales before the match against West Ham, noting the weight of each player. After the match won against the Londoners he explained: “I want to see how they will return to the training center after three days of rest. They can eat, of course, but then I want to control them. If, for example, someone returns three kilos more than their ideal weight, they will stay in Manchester and will not come with us to Nottingham”, where City will be involved on Saturday 27th, at 1.30pm, against Forest.
Haaland weighs himself: “Everything is fine”
After celebrating Christmas, Haaland shared her weight on Instagram. Known for his curious posts that quickly go viral, this time the Norwegian combined business with pleasure by posting a photo on a scale reading 94.4kg (209lbs) along with the comment: “Everything is fine!”. Among the first to reply, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who posted smiling emojis. The photos with the City players in the dressing room, queuing up to get on the scales under the watchful eye of Guardiola, drove social media crazy, where the parodies were unleashed. Fueled by the fans – one of them published a photo montage of Guardiola having a conversation on the pitch with a sensationally impressive Haaland oversize – but also by the players themselves: after Guardiola’s words, Rayan Cherkia 22-year-old French-Algerian talent, posted a video in which he is filmed from behind while pedaling furiously on the exercise bike, obviously to lose those three extra kilos.
Players excluded because they are overweight
We laugh about it, of course, but Guardiola is not one to joke: the former City defender, Gaël Clichy, revealed that already in 2016 the former Barcelona manager excluded some players from training who did not respect their ideal weight, telling of the continuous recommendations made to the players to avoid pizza and heavy foods. Pep’s weight is about to hit the Premier League. The scales will render their verdicts.
