admin Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola is not ready to take any risks in the Carabao Cup amid the team’s busy schedule.
Pep Guardiola is resigned to facing his team’s youngsters in the Carabao Cup as Manchester City try to deal with a serious injury problem.
The Blues are flying high at the top of the Premier League with 5 wins in 5 matches, but could not be named on the full bench in the 3-1 win over West Ham due to injuries to 4 players. making an already declining team worse in the transfer window. Cole Palmer joined Chelsea last week for £42.5m while James McAtee joined Sheffield United on loan to add to three other first-team departures, which left Guardiola dependent on luck as well as a top-notch medical team to manage. a squad spanning four tournaments (five including the Club World Cup in December).
City endured a difficult Carabao Cup third round draw against fellow Champions League side Newcastle, where they came back from two goals down to draw 3-3 in last season’s competition. The League Cup was Guardiola’s first trophy in England and City won four during his seven-year tenure as part of his dominance of domestic football.
However, injuries to John Stones, Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic as well as the months-long absence of Kevin De Bruyne left Guardiola feeling that playing with a full squad at St. James’ Park will risk further exhausting his injury team. As they prioritize the Premier League and Champions League, the Carabao Cup may have to make concessions in their quest for the title.
“The problem when you have a lot of injuries might not be today but in three, four, five games,” he said. “We have to go to Newcastle for the Carabao Cup and I’m sorry but we will have to play second-team players because we cannot take any risks.
“Kevin is still out, John is still out, Kova I don’t know, Jack I don’t know. When you have the whole team, you go to Newcastle with a good squad but now we just need to rest, recover well, train and try to get to match day in the best shape possible
“We can’t waste energy I’m on holiday but these guys played 90 minutes for their national team and then returned from Bolivia and Brazil.
“They were so tired and not just for us, but for all the teams.Look at West Ham’s [Edson] Alvarez, coming from South America with jet lag and playing against us. We don’t treat players properly. »
