Chapter 352: If you don't commit suicide, you won't die. Guardiola has started to work!

Guardiola is very efficient. After officially joining Manchester City, he even saved time for rest.

After refusing the Christmas holiday given to him by the team, he soon went to the club to start working.

Manchester City's current situation is not good, and Guardiola dare not waste any more time.

He needs to get into working shape as soon as possible and help the team solve difficulties.

Moreover, the winter transfer window is about to begin, and he also needs to look for suitable players in the transfer market to fill the gaps in various positions of the global team.

These tasks are numerous and complicated, and time is very tight, so they must be handled as soon as possible.

After arriving at Manchester City's training base, Guardiola gathered the players and gave them a brief speech, then asked the assistant coach to arrange daily training, while he stood on the sidelines and carefully observed the players' condition.

Manchester City's injury situation has been quite serious this season. Many players on the training ground have just recovered from injuries and are undergoing recovery training.

Seeing Kroos doing ball training, Guardiola asked his assistant: "How is Kroos doing recently?"

The midfield has always been the most important part of Guardiola's team, and many of his tactics are based on several positions in the midfield.

"The recovery is not fast, and the players seem to have a serious resistance."

The assistant coach and physiotherapist looked at each other and answered truthfully.

"Resistance?"

Guardiola was a little confused. He knew Kroos' character. He was a very professional player.

Why would he feel resistance?

"Well, this is the first winter he has experienced without a winter break. Not only does the team not have a holiday during the Christmas holiday, but they also have to train and prepare for the game. There are even games to be played on Christmas Day. For many players who have just come to the Premier League, they are not very accustomed to this rhythm of the game."

Guardiola nodded to show that he understood.

Manchester City's next game is on December 26, the day after Christmas.

This kind of schedule is indeed a bit inhumane.

However, the Premier League is different from other leagues. This is a competition organized by the Premier League. In order to pursue extreme commercialization, they specially chose to hold the game on Christmas Day when the flow of people is the largest.

This will attract more fans to watch the game and also seize the broadcasting market of other leagues during the off-season.

Such an arrangement would bring the greatest benefits in terms of event promotion and broadcasting revenue.

But for the players, the arrangement of a Christmas drive would be very painful and disgusting.

While others are on vacation, they still have to play games, and it's not a normal schedule, but an extremely intensive schedule.

The Premier League is eager to arrange more games between the Christmas and New Year holidays, completely disregarding the lives of the players.

It would be strange if the players didn’t feel disgusted!

British players may be fine as they have grown up in this environment and are already accustomed to this arrangement.

However, for players from other countries, especially those who have just come to the Premier League, it is normal and common to feel inadaptable and resistant when encountering this situation in the first few seasons.

Not to mention, the Christmas Express schedule is a high-incidence period for players to get injured.

"If his injury is not serious, give him a week off and let him rest!"

"ah?"

When the assistant coaches heard Guardiola was going to give Kroos a holiday, they were dumbfounded.

Coach, do you know what you are saying?

Our team is now full of injured players and there are few healthy players.

Although Kroos cannot start and play the whole game, he has no problem coming on as a substitute in the second half.

This will not only help him integrate into the team as soon as possible, but also allow other midfielders in the team to take a break.

You let him go, then there will be even fewer usable players in the team, and the remaining players will have to bear a heavier burden!

"Go and ask if anyone else wants to take a vacation. Anyone who wants a vacation will be given three days off!"

Guardiola didn't seem to be willing to listen to the advice. Not only did he not listen, he also wanted to extend the holiday policy to the entire team.

Today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow is Christmas.

As the most important festival in Western society, it is indeed a bit unreasonable to let the players sweat profusely on the court at this time.

"Coach, if we give the whole team a holiday, what about the game on December 26th?"

"Haha, don't worry, don't we still have a reserve team and a youth team?!"

Guardiola looked confident, but in the end he had to go to the reserve team to pick up players.

Several assistant coaches were collectively speechless. Treating players from the reserve and youth teams as the main players, is this admitting defeat?

The Christmas Express of the Premier League has begun, and Manchester City will have three tough games to play in the next week.

This intensive schedule is a period in which most Premier League teams lose points frequently. Manchester City is now 3 points behind Chelsea in the standings.

If they fail to play well in these three games, they will probably be left further behind.

At this critical moment of chasing points, Guardiola had to give up a game right at the start, and it was his debut.

Isn't he afraid that if he loses the game, the fans and reporters will make him pay the price?

Guardiola is really not afraid! It's just a game, if we lose, we lose, what's the big deal.

On the contrary, if giving the players a holiday can win their favor, improve their support within the team, and reverse their current low morale and state, then it would be a great win! So, after saying this, Guardiola turned around and left, ready to go to the reserve team to select players.

When the reserve team coaches and players saw Guardiola coming, they all seemed very excited, and even the training on the field became more active!

This is the new head coach of the team. His purpose of coming to the reserve team is self-evident. He must be here to observe the players' condition and prepare to promote them to the first team!

For all the players in Manchester City's reserve team, being able to play for the first team is what they dream of.

Therefore, such an opportunity cannot be easily missed. Each player is trying very hard to perform well in order to impress Guardiola.

Guardiola was chatting with the reserve team coach on the sidelines while observing the performance of the players on the training ground.

These young players have been trying hard to show themselves after he came to the stadium, but the strength displayed by most of them is very average. In Guardiola's eyes, these people are obviously not up to his standards.

Guardiola was filled with emotion. When he was at Barcelona, ​​there were a lot of talented players in the La Masia training camp.

But when it comes to Manchester City, it's hard to find even a decent player.

Of course, the La Masia youth training camp has a wide range of selection and a greater reputation. Every year, a large number of parents from all over the world bring their children to La Masia for trials.

Only the most outstanding children have the chance to stay there, so it is no surprise that there are so many talented people in La Masia.

Compared with Barcelona, ​​Manchester City's youth training has only gradually got on track in recent years. It lacks foundation, so there are no outstanding talents.

We still need to focus on youth training, after all, it is the foundation for the long-term development of the team.

Good players will only become more and more expensive in the future. If you rely solely on buying players to build a team, the cost will only become higher and higher, and will eventually drag down the team's financial system.

This is obviously not a long-term solution! There are almost no players who meet Guardiola's requirements or impress him, but Guardiola is here and it is impossible for him to return empty-handed.

So he had to lower his standards.

If we select players based on their ability to thrive in the top five leagues, there seem to be a few good looking players among these guys.

"Well, this striker is pretty good, what's his name?"

Guardiola pointed to a young black striker who was over 1.8 meters tall and asked the head coach of the reserve team.

"Him? His name is Kelechi Iheanacho, he is 18 years old, Nigerian, talented, and a good striker!"

Guardiola nodded and said: "Let's transfer him to the first team and let him play a few games!"

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After saying this, he saw another defender who performed well in defense.

"What's the guard's name?"

"Tosin Adarabioyo has excellent physical fitness and good defensive awareness. If he plays more games in the future, he will be a good defender!"

"Well, take him with you!"

Guardiola promoted five young players to the first team at once. The rest were really unbearable to look at. Even if the first team was short of people, he didn't dare to use these people.

The five selected players were extremely excited, and each of them felt like they were hit by happiness.

They felt like they were dreaming, and couldn't believe that they were chosen by Guardiola! He was a world-class coach!

As for the players who were not selected, they all looked very disappointed.

They will not doubt Guardiola's judgment of people, and it is unlikely that the other party will make a mistake.

Since they were not chosen, it means that their talent and strength are indeed not good enough.

This has made many people realize the reality that it will be difficult for them to gain a foothold in Manchester City in the future. Perhaps they can consider transferring away and try their luck in other teams.

By the time Guardiola returned to the first-team training base with several young players promoted from the reserve team, the assistant coach had already completed the registration.

There are many players who want this three-day holiday. After all, who can resist the temptation of the Christmas holiday?

Guardiola had anticipated this situation, so he seemed very calm.

But when he saw Lin Quan's name on the list, the calmness on his face completely disappeared.

"Ahem, do you want to take these three days off too?"

Guardiola found an opportunity to find Lin Quan during a break in training and mentioned the matter to him.

"Yes, I promised to take Maria and Valentina to the amusement park and the aquarium!"

Looking at Guardiola scratching his head, Lin Quan tried hard to hold back his laughter and answered seriously.

After hearing Lin Quan's words, Guardiola was hesitant to speak.

"If someone is willing to go to the amusement park with us, I think Valentina and the others might be able to make some adjustments and postpone the time to after New Year's Day."

Guardiola nodded repeatedly: "No problem, I have time after New Year's Day, and I will definitely take them out to play then!"

Lin Quan nodded and crossed his name off the list of people applying for leave.

It is indeed uncomfortable to drive fast during Christmas, but after last year's experience, I can stick to it this year.

Especially since the team is now in a critical period, even though Guardiola is courting death, we can't really watch him die.

"So many of the team's main players are resting, we can't play without you in the next game!"

After seeing Lin Quan cross out his name, Guardiola breathed a sigh of relief.

Lin Quan couldn't help but rolled his eyes at him and asked:

"You're making such a big fuss right from the start, aren't you afraid of a disaster?"

It is true that if you don't seek death, you won't die. Guardiola wants to win people's hearts, which Lin Quan can understand.

But he felt that there was no need for Guardiola to act so hastily. He could just take it step by step. There was no need to make such a big move right away.

It's just like him doing scientific research in the Champions League knockout rounds. It's okay to do this kind of thing in the league, but if he does it in a crucial occasion like the Champions League knockout rounds, he will naturally be praised to the sky if he succeeds, but if he fails, he will be scolded badly!

Guardiola nodded:

"It would be a lie to say I'm not afraid, but I've studied the opponent's game videos and have some ideas. I can try them out when the time comes. Even if some of our main players can't play, we may not lose."

The next game will be his first game after joining Manchester City, and it will receive a lot of attention. Guardiola naturally does not want to get off to a bad start.

In the next game, Manchester City's opponent is West Bromwich Albion, which is not a strong team.

He had contacted the club staff beforehand, asked for recent match videos of opponents, and did thorough research.

Guardiola thought he had a certain degree of confidence, so he dared to do this.

Of course, he cannot play with an all-substitute lineup. Lin Quan, the core of Manchester City, must be on the court because this is the key to his victory.

…

December 26, Etihad Stadium, Manchester.

This is the first game after Christmas and also Guardiola's first appearance after joining Manchester City.

The game received unprecedented attention, the Etihad Stadium was packed with people, and there was not a single empty seat in the entire stadium.

Manchester City fans have been looking forward to this game for a long time! This is Guardiola's first game since he came to Manchester City, and the outside world is very concerned about the changes his arrival has brought to Manchester City.

Therefore, the Premier League officials specially arranged the live broadcast of this game and also chose prime time for the game and live broadcast.

Obviously, even the Premier League officials do not want to miss such an opportunity for publicity and promotion.

However, when the two sides announced the starting lineups for the game before the game, both the fans who came to watch the game and the reporters who came to report on Guardiola's first game were dumbfounded! What the hell is Manchester City doing?

Why do I not recognize so many of these players in the starting lineup?

(End of this chapter)