In reaction to Manchester Cityโs consecutive losses and continuous injury issue, Pep Guardiola will not do one thing.
Guardiola looked upset in his technical area after Bournemouth defeated City, who rightfully lost. After the game, the manager lamented, โWe could not handle their energy,โ while arguing that their 32-game Premier League winning streak since their last loss 11 months prior was โamazing.โ
While two more players bounced back from knocks and continued to play despite their discomfort, City welcomed back three injured players. However, Guardiola also lost John Stones and Ruben Dias to injury. Twelve of his 20 senior outfield players have already missed games due to injuries this season.
With Erling Haalandโs personal leave during the Carabao Cup victory over Watford taken into account, there have been 59 instances of a senior player missing 15 games this season due to injury, or an average of four outfield players missing every game. In order to deal with the persistent injury problems, Guardiola has also had to rest other players, such as Rico Lewis at Bournemouth and Erling Haaland at Tottenham.
According to Kyle Walker, he hurried back against Bournemouth to support his exhausted teammates during their time of need.
For the first time in thirteen months, City has now dropped back-to-back games. They now have a challenging week away to Sporting in the Champions League before making the lengthy journey to Brighton in the Premier League.
However, Guardiola will not use injuries as an excuse for their poor play or the causes for the Tottenham and Bournemouth defeats. Even if he believes the broader fixture calendar has been a major factor in their injury issue, he will not be complaining about it.
โWe could have done better if we had had five more days to be ready, but who can say for sure? I would prefer not to record it on the calendar. Guardiola thought. We lost a game, so now it appears to be [an excuse]. I congratulate [Bournemouth] on their victory.
โWe played a lot of games in the past seasons. We may play close to 70 games if we make it to the World Cup and participate in the final stages. It is comparable to the NBA, although we only get three days off while they have four months.
This season has seen several instances of ailments brought on by weariness from the previous year. Phil Foden attributed Rodriโs season-ending injury to the same f-word and stated that it was the reason he missed a few games recently. The 11-month season prior to this one has made minor injuries sustained by Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, and others worse.
โYou have injuries from the past seasons, thus that is the cause. It is natural, it is individual,โ the manager went on. โWe must manage it and have the ideal number of practice sessions before the games because it will happen. To play games, we need to be in the best possible physical condition.
โWe are unable to practice and take any action. The players exclaim โwowโ when you win a lot, but otherwise it is the same as in past seasons. We must accept that the body is what it is, deal with it as best we can, take what we can from today, and go on.