(Image: Sky Sports)
Pep Guardiola was left speechless at a question about his Manchester City squad as he fought to defend the players amid their desperate run of form.
City went into the derby vs Manchester United this weekend having won just one of their last 10 games, losing seven. And Guardiola spent the week denying his side were suffering from a lack of confidence - despite Ilkay Gundogan stating they are.
Injuries have ravaged Guardiola's squad this season, with key players like Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne spending long periods out, while others have suffered 'burnout' and fatigue from the wider schedule that has seen City go deep in multiple competitions in recent seasons.
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Guardiola spoke on Friday of the need to change City's transfer policy of keeping a small squad to keep players happy, instead acknowledging that a bigger squad to cope with injuries will be needed in the future.
And when he was asked by Sky Sports if 'football was becoming unsustainable', he replied: "No. For the players, yeah. For the football no. The show must go on, and if it's not displayed will be another one. They [the authorities] defend their business. I defend my business. My business is my players. My success is my players. I want to protect them and take care of them."
Then Guardiola was asked if he will fight for his players, which caught the manager off guard and left him - for a second - speechless.
"After what they have done for this club, what they have done for me? You say I won't fight for my players? Oh my..." he replied. "Why did you ask me that. Absolutely. There's no doubt about that.
"This era, what these players have done the most success ever in this country by any team ever. These players. They would have done it again, they can't do it because they are not there. For what? The schedule. No more than that. The only regret is that we cannot compete because we did not have what we had in the past. But the only reason is the schedule. The Premier League defend the business, I defend mine."
Guardiola repeated his gripe that City should be allowed a later start to next season because they are taking part in the Club World Cup over the summer, saying City will need more players next season to cope with the increased workload - even if it will bring 'more chaos'.
He continued: "They should allow the English teams, like Chelsea and ourselves to go to the Club World Cup and have a little bit more time. To recover the players, start later. Next season we are going to need 25-30 players. [But] do you know when you have more players? You have more chaos in the locker room.
"It's more unsustainable for the club because you have to pay more salaries and pay more than the other ones. After will be unsustainable for the clubs and will be a problem. For us and with all the clubs. What has happened for us in the next years will happen to the other clubs."