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The City boss believes The Blues have an edge over his team this season due to their huge squad size. Guardiola now feels Manchester City should follow Chelsea’s blueprint in the upcoming season to cope with the challenges of the football schedule.
Pep Guardiola. (AP Photo)
Pep Guardiola has named Chelsea’s key advantage over Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. The City manager believes The Blues have an edge over his team this season due to their huge squad size. Guardiola now feels Manchester City should follow Chelsea’s blueprint in the upcoming season to cope with the challenges of the football schedule.
He challenged his club’s management to dive into the transfer market to flesh out his squad to a suitable size so that he could rest his stars in the following campaigns. “Next season, next season Manchester City – not Chelsea, they already have the squad – have to be 30 players, 25 or 30,” Guardiola said in a press conference, as per multiple outlets.
Chelsea are seemingly thriving under the management of Enzo Maresa. The Londoners have won their last seven matches in all competitions. They recently defeated Brentford in the Premier League 2-1, courtesy of goals from Marc Cucurella and Nicolas Jackson. Maresca is utilising the complete depth of his squad. He has been able to make huge changes for his team’s Conference League campaign. This has allowed the Chelsea manager to rest the likes of Cole Palmer, Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer in between matches in the English top flight.
As for Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions currently sit in the unfamiliar fifth place in the table. They sit nine points behind league leaders Liverpool. This is Guardiola’s worst run in his decades-long coaching career as his team has managed just one win in their last 11 matches across competitions. They have suffered seven defeats in this run. Manchester City are missing the influence of key players like Rodri in the midfield who has been on the sidelines after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
In the same press conference, Guardiola blamed the hectic schedule for Rodri’s physical condition. “So why is Rodri injured? He played 75 games last season. When we finished and I was on holiday, he was at the Euros to win the Euros with Spain, and injured with Spain and came back. And one game, two games. Do you know being fresh you get an ACL? No,” Guardiola said.
Manchester City are now preparing to take Aston Villa in their next league game on December 21 at Villa Park. Chelsea, on the other hand, will play Shamrock Rovers in the Conference League on December 20.
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