Pep’s City sloggers!
PEP GUARDIOLA ordered hard labour for his Manchester City superstars to pummel them into shape for a full-on title assault this season.
The Spaniard ended the last campaign empty handed in the silverware stakes for the first time in his illustrious managerial career, having won trophies for fun at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
And The Etihad boss has cranked up his squad’s work schedule ahead of their pre-season trip Stateside, with Guardiola hell-bent on avoiding a potless repeat this time around.
The City squad, valued at a staggering £600million-plus, were welcomed back for training on Monday and Guardiola immediately put them on double workout duty.
A hard-working session in the morning was followed by another punishing stint in the afternoon which carried on relentlessly into the early evening.
And that Blue Murder continued for five more days until Guardiola (below) gave his stars a breather today, before flying out to Los Angeles tomorrow.
He put his players through every imaginable routine to get them to the peak of fitness before the Premier League returns next month, with intensive sprints followed by dribbling techniques and intricate ball-work with quick, one-touch passing with Guardiola happy to join in.
The squad also underwent strenuous aerobic exercises and carried out strengthening stints with giant elastic bands tied to players’ waists.
It was all high-intensity with every one of the superstar squad working flat-out under the watchful eye of Guardiola and his coaching team.
And Leroy Sane was happy to stay on for extra work on his ball skills, curling “banana” shots from the corner flag into the top corner of the net.
City’s stamina-sapping preparations and their big spending, with Kyle Walker now a record-busting £54m signing, has certainly taken Paul Dickov’s breath away.
The former City striker said: “Personally, I do think they’re favourites. Some of the stuff City played last year was not just the best from a City side but some of the best football I have seen in the Premier League for a long time.
“They can really tear teams apart. And towards the end of last season, getting Vincent Kompany back, they looked a lot more solid.
“With the additions they have made so far and the additions they will make, it could be quite scary for a few teams next year.”
And the Scot has no doubt that Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus can form a deadly double act.
He said: “They can play t ogether and City’s attacking players are second to none.”