Guardiola: Manchester City's Non-Winning Routine Needs Rest, But The Situation Is Strange

JAKARTA - Manchester City ended seven matches without a win (six defeats and one draw) with a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Etihad on Thursday, December 5, 2024, WIB.

Pep Guardiola celebrated the victory as a crucial turning point. He said the win had broken the team's bad habits.

"We need it. The most important thing is to stop the routine of not winning this game. In the end we won, but we have to keep going."

"The club, the players, everyone needs to win. After the recent incident, we didn't really relax until the final whistle sounded," said Guardiola.

The problem remains the consistency of The Citizens in the future. As is well known, the England teams cannot relax every December.

When many other European leagues take a vacation during the festive season (Christmas and New Year holidays), England teams are still playing.

If you look at the three nearest matches, Manchester City is only given a three-day gap between matches.

After winning against Nottingham, they even had to return to Crystal Palace headquarters on Saturday, December 7, 2024.

This means that Pep Guardiola must be smart in maintaining player fitness. For example, Kevin De Bruyne's return to the starting line-up, which was marked by an extraordinary performance.

The injured Belgian looked stunning, scoring one goal and one assist in the match against Nottingham.

De Bruyne also dominated Manchester City's attack in his first appearance as a starting player after more than two months.

Guardiola also warned about managing the midfielder's workload. The Citizens' busy schedule in December 2024 added to concerns.

"We'll see how he recovers after a long absence from injury. In fact, he only played a little last season and this season."

"Three days, three days, we'll see how De Bruyne feels," said Guardiola.

Moreover, some of the persistent pillars are predicted to be absent, such as Nathan Ake who was forced off the field at the end of the match against Nottingham due to a hamstring injury.

Not to mention Manuel Akanji who also came out in the second half in the same match. However, the latest news says the injury is not too serious.

"Nathan doesn't look in good shape. We'll monitor the situation. He can't continue the game. We'll know more in a few days. I'm disappointed for Nathan."

"We want Manu and Nathan, as well as two defensive midfielders. They are fantastic people and players," said Guardiola.