Manchester City’s battle-weary stars were compelled to spend Christmas night at the club’s training ground ahead of their 12:30pm Boxing Day clash with Everton.\u00a0Pep Guardiola disclosed that his players had been pulled away from the cosy comforts of their family homes, expressing his hope that they welcomed the move with open arms.<\/p>\n
Having lost nine of their last 12 matches \u2013 the worst run of Guardiola’s managerial career \u2013 and stranded awkwardly in a Premier League table counting results from October 1st has them sitting in 7th<\/sup> place. Staring this bleak scenario in the face, any hope the struggling champions had of a Christmas break were also dashed.<\/p>\n In 2014, the Citizens became the first top-flight club to implement an overnight stay ahead of Boxing Day fixtures. So, while Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, and their teammates enjoyed the morning and afternoon with their families, the evening signaled a swift return to pressing matters on the pitch.<\/p>\n Prepping ahead for their lunchtime kickoff against Everton, Manchester City turned the ‘Etihad Campus’ into an impromptu hotel for the matchday squad. Their state-of-the-art base boasts 80 bedrooms outfitted with sleep-enhancing wallpaper, and the club spared no expense \u2013 splashing \u00a3150,000 on mattresses and pillows to ensure peak comfort.<\/p>\n “We train today (Tuesday), we train tomorrow (Wednesday) night, we will stay over here, and we are going to play on Boxing Day,” Guardiola explained, per the Daiy Mail,\u00a0reinforcing his desire for the players to embrace the overnight stay, adding “it’s our job.”<\/p>\n The need for solutions has become urgent. Back-to-back 2-1 defeats to Manchester United and Aston Villa have left Guardiola, one of the sharpest tactical minds in the game, scratching his head. Astonishingly, City head into the festive fixture pile-up sitting seventh in the Premier League \u2013 a far cry from the dominance that saw them lift the title in each of the last four seasons. They trail unlikely high-flyers Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, while leaders Liverpool have surged 12 points clear.<\/p>\n As the harsh glare of the spotlight intensifies, Guardiola\u2019s immediate focus is to pull City by the scruff of their necks out of this debacle in the hope of securing a top-four finish to guarantee Champions League\u00a0football next season.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0lurking in perilously close proximity is the sinister shadow of the now 130 financial charges that continue to loom over the club \u2013 a most unwelcome subplot that\u2019s the spinoff from the existing drama of their turbulent times.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"