by Pep Guardiola said he had no alternative but to “just deal with it” as his struggling Manchester City side bear the brunt of a hectic schedule that he compared to the NBA.
City’s first Premier League defeat, at Bournemouth on Saturday, followed their Carabao Cup exit to Tottenham in midweek. Guardiola blamed his team’s crisis on the “reality we are currently experiencing”: their season is expected to run until the first and controversial FIFA Club World Cup, scheduled for June and July 2025 in the United States, with ever more intense and intense matches. quickly until then. On Tuesday, City face Sporting, with new Manchester United manager Rúben Amorim at the helm, in the Champions League.
Related: Antoine Semenyo makes the difference as Bournemouth overthrow Manchester City
Guardiola took out a team at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday that included a number of unfit players who rushed back into action, and speaking after the 2-1 defeat to Andoni Iraola’s more energetic and impressive side, said the City manager.: “In the past, previous seasons, we played a lot of matches, maybe when we go to the World Cup [Club] Cup, reaching the final stages of the competition, we will play more than 70 matches. And 70 games is like the NBA, but the NBA has four months off and we have three weeks, because it’s not this season, it’s from the previous season, from the previous season, from the season previous. When this happens, you stay hurt for a long time.
Guardiola praised the players who put themselves in the firing line, singling out Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké for particular praise: “There are players who are not in the best form and they are making an incredible effort to be here . So Manu and Nathan weren’t really in good shape, so until the last moment I didn’t know that Nathan could play and he said: ‘No, I want to try, I want to try’.
Facing a torrid time from Bournemouth goalscorer Antoine Semenyo, City captain Kyle Walker was eventually moved to center back. Guardiola was publicly sympathetic to the England international. “Since he arrived this season after the Euros, he has trained maybe five, four, five training sessions with us,” he said, “so he can play without any training because he’s in good physical condition, you know, it’s incredible. He played 90 minutes against a lot of fast players, it’s not easy.
Walker said: “I felt as good as I could…sometimes the captain needs to step in when maybe I could have had a bit more time off, but that’s no excuse. I was there for the guys and I think everyone here…all credit for people’s pain, the hits, the kicks, the bruises, the pulling of some of them. It just shows the determination, the passion, what they want to do for the badge, for the club.
Kevin De Bruyne, out since September with a worrying thigh injury, was an unused substitute but another to answer Guardiola’s call to the walking injured. “Kevin yesterday [Friday] I started to feel better, but it’s been a month and a half and the match was so demanding,” said the Catalan. “I tried to take care of him… we need him and he will come back at the right time.”
