Pep Guardiola Vows To Care For Manchester City Players ‘Like A Father And Mother’ Amid Grueling Fixture Schedule

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has opened up about the challenges of managing his squad through a packed fixture list, saying he has to “take care” of his players like “a father and mother takes care of their sons.”

In just one week, City secured victories over Manchester United and Napoli before conceding a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Sunday.

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Injury Concerns And Squad Management

City travel to League One side Huddersfield Town in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday while grappling with a growing injury list:

• Erling Haaland will not travel due to a back issue sustained against Arsenal, but Guardiola expects him to be fit for the Premier League clash with Burnley on Saturday.

• Abdukodir Khusanov left the pitch at half-time at the Emirates Stadium, while Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush remain sidelined.

• Rayan Ait-Nouri’s return from injury is still uncertain.

• Midfielder Kalvin Phillips is unlikely to feature, as he is in London “to become a father for a second time.”

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Guardiola On Team Spirit And Tactics

Despite City’s challenges, Guardiola praised the team’s spirit and growth:

“First comes the spirit we have shown this week, and you have to take care of this like a father and mother takes care of their sons,” he said.

“Since I started as a manager from the second team at Barcelona until now, I always asked for one thing — I want the players to give everything on the pitch. Last season we didn’t do it in some moments, and this season, especially from the USA and since United, we started to recover many things that defined our team for many years.”

Guardiola’s tactics against Arsenal drew criticism after he reverted to a 5-5-0 formation, resulting in just 33% possession, the lowest he has overseen in 601 top-flight matches.

Despite that, the City boss remained upbeat:

“I’m really proud, satisfied. We recovered many things that we missed last season. We had an incredible spirit. Of course we cannot sustain all season to play the way we did, and we don’t want to, but I give incredible power to the opponents.”

He added that earning a draw against a strong Arsenal side was still a positive:

“I want to learn to celebrate when we draw a game in the way that we did away against Arsenal, who are a big contender and reached the semi-final of the Champions League. I want to celebrate that point.”

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