Pep’s Strict Christmas Message Turns Instant Meme
After sending off his Manchester City squad for Christmas with an extremely serious message Pep Guardiola made instant headlines.
Why Footballers Shouldn’t Carry Extra Kilos
For footballers carrying extra weight can result in lost speed, reduced coordination and endurance; additional stress on their joints; etc… Pep Guardiola seems to understand these problems perfectly.
Thus for the Christmas break Pep sent off his Manchester City squad with a very clear message. He stated his demand at the press conference following the 3-0 victory over West Ham.
No Early Holiday – Pep Said No
The Spanish coach also confirmed at the same press conference that he rejected the players’ request to head home a day earlier:
“I said ‘no’ to the boys, because they didn’t play well enough. On Sunday, we’ll do some recovery work with those who didn’t play, and then they’ll have three days off before they start preparing for the match against Nottingham Forest,”
Discipline vs Rest
You don’t mess with Pep Guardiola. However, the coach also understands the importance of the Christmas break for his players:
“Since I came to England I’ve realized that you should give your players as many days off as you possibly can. The Premier League schedule is crazy hectic, so players have to fully disconnect and then when the matches come along they’ll be refreshed and full of energy,”
English Coach Disagrees With Pep
Manchester City’s English coach isn’t alone in disagreeing with Pep’s approach. Old-school English coach Sean Dyche believes Guardiola is far too strict with his players.
Pep Guardiola – independent.co.uk
Logic Behind Both Sides
Some logic lies behind Pep’s words too. But let’s be honest… it does look quite ridiculous to weigh Pep himself, after all he’s the manager, not the player.
England Blows Up – Memes, Fake Photos & Viral Images
The news quickly spread through England. Fans were quick to create memes and one of them turned into a full-blown prank! One fan created a picture using AI of Guardiola sternly supervising Gianluigi Donnarumma on the scales. There is Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Rúben Dias waiting patiently in line behind him. You can really only tell it’s fake once you zoom in closely!
Players React to Pep’s Joke on Social Media
The players themselves were quick to join in on the joke too. The majority of the Manchester City squad put up pictures of their families on social media celebrating the holidays. No signs of massive Christmas dinners were shown (although Rúben Dias did sneak in a picture of some pastries). Hopefully he didn’t eat them all by himself.
Rayan Cherki, one of City’s midfielders, showed Pep he’s coming back even leaner. First he posted a story of him cycling like mad. Then he followed up with a picture from the slopes.
Erling Haaland took things to the next level. The Norwegian loves a joke and a bit of banter. Haaland posted a picture of himself standing on the scales. Result – 94.4kg.
“All good!” – Haaland commented simply.
Guardiola’s Long War Against Extra Kilos. Guardiola has been trying to keep his players thin for years.
Pep Guardiola opens up on weighing Man City – firstpost.com
So much so, that he may have ruined a player’s career while working at Manchester City.
Initial Examples: Clichy and Agüero
Pep wasn’t always as strict about weight as he is today. He began to pay attention to it soon after he joined Manchester City. Defender Gaël Clichy remembered that Pep warned players to avoid “certain pizzas, certain juices and heavy foods.”
He was constantly at odds with Sergio Agüero regarding his weight issues too. Agüero frequently received fines for being overweight…
(As a side note, Agüero would go on to explain how extra weight negatively impacted him during games, and how Pep was correct to be worried.)
Recent Example: Kalvin Phillips
The clearest example in recent times is midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Phillips was effectively benched due to excessive weight in early 2023…
After that Pep jokingly referred to Phillips’ body as “perfect and sexy”, and had to apologize for it.
Russia’s Extremely Strict Karpin
Valery Karpin, Russian coach, is extremely strict regarding weight loss. Every team Karpin works with is controlled tightly. Sugar is forbidden, for instance, and recently Karpin omitted Andrey Mostovoy from the national team roster because of his excess weight.
Main Question Right Now
So if one of City’s key players doesn’t make the trip to Nottingham – it’s probably safe to say the reason will be fairly simple, and fairly obvious: they ate too much over the holidays.
