MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 10: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, conducts a warm up during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 training and press conference at Manchester City Football Academy on December 10, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 10: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, conducts a warm up during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 training and press conference at Manchester City Football Academy on December 10, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola appears to have no problem playing the role of Scrooge this Christmas if it means Manchester City can turn their form around and salvage their Champions League qualification hopes - which he admits is at risk.
Guardiola will call his players in for Christmas Day training ahead of their Boxing Day clash with Everton, although he defended their recent squad party with families as essential for team harmony.
City's run of one win in 12 has seen them slide to seventh at Christmas, and they could even slip into the bottom half of the Premier League table with defeat against an Everton side with one defeat in six and five clean sheets. That would take an unlikely set of results, but this season has shown that the unlikely results are sometimes the more likely.
Not only are City struggling, but so are Manchester United at Tottenham, with Arsenal failing to mount a serious title challenge and a top five at Christmas including surprise packages Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth.
Guardiola accepts that City are not just facing a reality where they will not retain their title, but could struggle to finish in the top four for the first time in 14 years, missing out on the lucrative finances that come with a Champions League place.
"Now we’re at risk, of course we are, definitely," he admitted on Christmas Eve.
"You have to get points and win games otherwise we won’t qualify for the Champions League and if we don’t qualify it is because we don’t deserve it … because we were not prepared, because we had a lot of problems and didn’t solve those problems and find a way to win games.
"There are of lot of contenders to be there. For every club it is so important and if we are not winning games, we will be out."
Guardiola demanded his players reported for Christmas Day training ahead of their lunchtime kick-off on Boxing Day, insisting that it is normal practice for a 12.30pm fixture regardless of the time of year. That means City were training in the late afternoon on Christmas day around 18 hours before facing Everton, before staying overnight at the training ground away from their families.
In previous years, Guardiola has granted players Christmas Day off, but they have not been first up on Boxing Day like this year. Captain Kyle Walker spoke on his podcast last week about Christmas Day training, saying players are keen to get away as quickly as possible to get back to their families, but that won't be the case this year.
Guardiola had earlier said 'hopefully they want to be here' when discussing the Christmas Day plans, before later adding: "It's our job, we have to be here. If we play 3pm, 4.30pm, we stay at home and come back as usual. If we play at 12.30 always we have stayed here. If some traffic arrive or in the morning can be a problem. They will stay. Stay one day here because we have a game a day after. It's not a big problem."
And Guardiola insisted that a squad party earlier in the week during time off is an important opportunity for players to celebrate with friends and family before a busy Christmas schedule - even if the notion of a struggling side letting their hair down can often be used as a reason to criticise them.
But in backing his players, he also warned them that things must improve when they get back to the training pitch. "I want to be honest," he said. "I don't like it when they go out, and they don't behave, and they're hungover. But they were with families and friends to celebrate the Christmas time on their day off, they had two or three days off. It will not be an issue if we win.
"If we lose, [people will say] 'ahh why should they [party]?' Why not? They have families, they have kids. Why should they be at home and do nothing? They celebrate, they are healthy people, with their loved ones. I don't see absolutely any problem."
Before heading back to his pre-match preparations, Guardiola's mood then turned in his final pre-Christmas message to the media, offering a stick to the players after allowing the carrot.
"We have to do more, we cannot do the same because the results aren't going well," he said, suggesting his Christmas Day schedule could be an attempt to send a message to his squad.
"We have to do more, have to do better. Have to do something that has done well but now doesn't work, we have to do something else. Otherwise...
"Everyone has to do more. Simple. I have to do more and the players have to do more. Even the uncomfortable things and difficult things, they have to do more."
It's clear that Guardiola won't be handing out any gifts to any of his players this year, and may be praying for a Christmas miracle to turn his fortunes around in the Premier League table.