Pep: Keeping all of my players happy is an impossible task
PEP GUARDIOLA has admitted he will never be popular with every player in the Manchester City dressing room because of competition for places at the club.
Guardiola trained with 30 senior players on Friday knowing he can only pick 11 for today’s game against West Ham. Big names like Joe Hart, Wilfried Bony and Eliaquim Mangala could leave in the final week of the transfer window though another non-starter, Yaya Toure, is set to stay.
The City boss has been more inclusive than Jose Mourinho who has restricted training to 26 players and exiled players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, but the Spaniard acknowledges the problems a bloated squad can bring.
‘It would be a dream to work with 11 players and seven on the bench, no more, because then everyone is happy,’ he admits. ‘At the moment, 19 players don’t play so tell me how you handle that? It is impossible.’
Guardiola is perhaps more sensitive than a man with his track record should be. He is aware former City player Joey Barton called the treatment of Hart ‘disgusting’ and that Stoke City’s Xherdan Shaqiri complained Guardiola would blank him at Bayern Munich.
‘They go to the media because they don’t play. I spoke to Shaqiri about why he didn’t play at Bayern but I can not tell him every weekend.
‘I take the decisions and the players who don’t play are not happy. They are not happy for one reason, they feel “the coach doesn’t love me”. They don’t feel loved.
‘You spend all week developing relationships in training, speaking to players, communicate. Then you have to leave them out and they are like “What is the matter with this guy?”
The flip side is that someone like Raheem Sterling is benefiting by playing regular 90 minutes after frequently being left out or substituted early by Manuel Pellegrini.
‘Now he feels the love, believe me. Do you think I improved his skill in a monthand-a-half?’ said Guardiola.
‘The referee whistles and I wave my hands around, but football belongs to the players.
‘I might suggest if they stand in a certain place, they will receive the ball more often. But they decide between a million possibilities in a second.’
So far, Guardiola’s players are making the right decisions. Their record so far is played four, won four, justifying their tag as preseason favourites. There have been subtle changes to the team Pellegrini put out.
The full-backs are pushed higher, creative players are being asked to defend from the front and each member of the team ran on average a kilometre further at Stoke last weekend than they did in the same fixture last season.
‘I actually want much more ball possession so it is the opponents have to run,’ smiles Guardiola.
‘The best way to create team spirit is when one guy runs for the other and two minutes later the other one is going to run for you.’
Guardiola confirmed Toure will remain at the club this season.
‘I spoke with him. He said he wants to stay. OK, if he wants to stay, I am happy you stay,’ said Guardiola, who sold Toure to City when he was manager of Barcelona.