Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City bosses that he will 'quit' if he has to leave multiple players out each week next season.
Comments
Sport
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola insists he wants a smaller squad next season, sensationally telling Manchester City bosses that he will "quit" if he is given a big squad to select from after the summer transfer market.
Guardiola has left multiple players out of his matchday squad in the last couple of weeks as more of his injured players return. Mateo Kovacic, Rodri and Nathan Ake were back in the squad that beat Bournemouth, meaning Rico Lewis and James McAtee sat out for the second game running after they missed the FA Cup final.
Savinho and Claudio Echeverri were also omitted after playing in the cup final and Guardiola revealed he spent 45 minutes deciding which players to cut from his 20-man matchday squad.
The decisions have been so painful for the City boss that Guardiola revealed he has told the club he does not want a squad as big as he currently has next season and will risk another injury crisis like the one that crippled this campaign.
"I said to the club I don't want that [a bigger squad]. I don't want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don't want that. I will quit," he said late on Tuesday night. "If they make a shorter squad I will stay. It's impossible for my soul to give my players in the tribune that they cannot play.
"Maybe for three or four months we couldn't select 11 players, we didn't have defenders, it was so difficult. After people come back but next season it cannot be like that. As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club I don't want that."
Asked if that therefore means that summer exits are inevitable, Guardiola insisted he does not know how his demands will be met. "It is a question for the club," he replied. "I don’t want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players for the academy and we do it.
"They cannot sustain for the emotion of the club, the soul of the team create another connection with each other that this season we lost it a bit. The players week by week stay at home. A player has to be here to fight between them to play and has to be the right number. A lot of injuries? Unlucky, but we have to do it.
"Echeverri, for example, is incredibly good in small spaces when the team defends deep like Southampton and Crystal Palace. But Bournemouth is a more transitional team so he is still not ready to play these kind of games. Maybe he's ready but I didn't see him and didn't realise.
"The previous game was other players and maybe on Sunday will be another one. It is a headache. Yesterday I spent more than 45 minutes with six players. Not one or two, six players were at home. I don’t like that."
---
Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester City coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest City news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
*And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Talking City podcast. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.*