admin Manchester City’s players will start back from international duty on Wednesday and Pep Guardiola could feel extra motivated
Pep Guardiola’s message to Manchester City’s players last week was simple: Please don’t get hurt.
The timing of stars taking to the field to represent their country remains something clubs fear as their control over what can happen to their assets disappears. This is why Man City are working hard to build relationships with the national teams, including sending their staff to look after Erling Haaland for Norway.
However, where such breaks are often seen as harmful to the rhythm and order of the national calendar, this has done something positive for the Blues. Concerns surrounding Mateo Kovacic will need to be addressed, but otherwise the momentum has been rekindled.
Whether Gareth Southgate is right or wrong (spoiler: he’s wrong but probably not as wrong as he could be) with his comments about Phil Foden playing in midfield doesn’t change the fact that he will be the judge. Final question on whether he has Foden will start for England at Euro 2024. This means that even if Foden disagrees with this comment, no one is determined to prove the international coach I made a mistake by playing under the Man City shirt rather than Foden.
Phillips is in a similar situation following concerns surrounding his selection for the England squad. Southgate admits a lack of minutes could force him to drop out, so the former Leeds player knows he has to count every appearance if he wants to be in the squad for Euro 2024.
The City team is rely on ensuring players are not completely comfortable with achieving success as well as creating their own motivation. Guardiola can help in many ways, but he cannot and will not do everything.
This is why you see Walker challenging the rest of the team to get off to a good start, or challenging himself to help new players win a Premier League title when he already has five championships.Every small advantage the team can create for itself makes Guardiola’s job easier and the City squad stronger.
A major international tournament always helps in that regard given nobody wants to miss out on the biggest stages to showcase their skills. City’s contingent is bigger than most given the quality in their squad.
As this last week has shown though, a few players have question marks around their status with nine months out until the tournament. Southgate’s comments about Foden not playing in midfield suggest the Stockport playmaker will want to make it as obvious as possible as early as possible that he can play in that role.
Guardiola may not make it easy for him and anyone else striving to make the tournament yet may end up thanking Southgate for firing some of his players up.
