Pep Guardiola promises major changes for Man City team amid gruelling schedule
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is not happy about the demands being placed on his players (Steven Paston/PA)
Pep Guardiola said the gruelling demands placed on his Manchester City players by an intense schedule means he will be forced to make changes to his line-up in the coming weeks in order to protect their welfare.
City face four games in 11 days, beginning with Tuesday’s Champions League opener against Red Star Belgrade at the Etihad, before welcoming Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
They play Newcastle in the Carabao Cup third round on September 27 and travel to Molineux to face Wolves three days later, all off the back of an international window that saw several of Guardiola’s team endure long trips to and from South America.
City came from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium on Saturday, with Julian Alvarez and Ederson playing key roles despite having returned only days earlier from international duty with their respective national teams Argentina and Brazil.
Guardiola singled out West Ham’s Edson Alvarez, who played for Mexico in their 3-3 draw with Uzbekistan in Georgia in the early hours of Thursday before starting for David Moyes’ team on Saturday.
He lasted 66 minutes before being withdrawn, but Moyes confirmed there was no injury and he was only looking to preserve Alvarez’s fitness.
Nevertheless, Guardiola shared his concerns over the impact the schedule is having on players.
“It is a problem when you have a lot of injuries,” he said. “The problem is not today, it’s in three, four, five games. We have the Carabao Cup away at Newcastle, I’m sorry but we will have to use (from) the second team some players.
“Kevin (De Bruyne) is still out, John (Stones) is still out,
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