They’ll come back on the 25th of December. I’m going to see how much they’ve eaten. I want to know in what physical condition the players will be when they arrive on the 28th. I allow them to eat. I control them. I have to make a line-up for the match against Nottingham Forest. Imagine that player who is in top shape, but he comes back with 3 kg of extra weight. He’ll remain here in Manchester and will not travel to the match against Nottingham.

At the same time, Guardiola rejected the request of the Manchester City players to take the next day of training off. “They asked me to cancel today’s training session,” he said. “But I said no. Today we have to have a recovery session for the players who did not play. And after three days off, they will have two days to get ready for the match against Nottingham Forest.”

It’s impossible to argue with Guardiola. However, he understands how important Christmas is for the players. “I have learned since I began working in England,” he said. “You have to give people as much time off as possible. The calendar is packed, so when the players meet, they’re exhausted.”

Not everyone agrees with the approach of Guardiola. An old-school English coach, Sean Dyche, believes Guardiola is being too harsh with the players.

Do you think Pep weighs himself?” Dyche said. “Players need to use common sense. I’m not saying that they cannot have a Christmas dinner. Why not? Sometimes the psychological aspect of sportsmen is no less important than other factors. And I’d like the players to relax during Christmas, and to do it within reasonable limits. These are their lives. Honestly, I believe that numbers are important, but I am not fixated on the weight of players and the like. I keep track of their weight, however. I believe this will allow them to enjoy the holiday season. They have a day off, but I think they should behave reasonably.

Dyche makes sense too. Of course, the fact that he is asking about the weight of Guardiola looks strange: after all, he is a coach and not a footballer.

The issue of weight quickly turned into a major topic in England. Fans immediately created a number of funny memes. And one of the memes turned into a kind of a prank! One fan, using artificial intelligence, generated a photo showing Guardiola strictly supervising the weighing of Gianluigi Donnarumma. And behind him, waiting their turn, are Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, and Rúben Dias. The photo looks quite realistic: without studying it carefully, it’s difficult to tell whether it’s a real or fake image.

A generated photo of Gianluigi Donnarumma’s weigh-in – tribuna.com

The players reacted to the news as well. The majority of the Manchester City players published photos of their families on vacations. Nothing suggests that they ate a huge meal together. Rúben Dias did post a photo with buns. I hope he didn’t eat them alone.

Rayan Cherki, meanwhile, sent Guardiola a message that he is getting ready to return to the team in better shape than ever. The French midfielder first posted a story where he is pedaling on a bike. Later, he posted a photo from a ski slope.

Haaland went further. He likes to joke and make fun of things. And now he does both again. City’s striker posted a photo of himself on the scale. The results – 94.4 kg. “All good!” — Erling wrote in a few words.

Guardiola has already been fighting excess weight in footballers for a while now. Due to this, he even ruined the career of one player at City.

For the first time, Guardiola is not concerned with excess weight in footballers. He has been tracking the players’ weight since arriving in Manchester. At that time, the club’s defender Gael Clichy said the coach told the players to avoid “pizza, some juices and heavy meals.”

A constant opponent of Guardiola on this matter was Sergio Aguero. The Argentine had problems with excess weight and Guardiola even punished him financially. “From 2013 to 2016, I had difficulty digesting my food. Many times, my blood pressure would drop. I simply felt terrible on the pitch and mostly due to lightheadedness. Most of the time, this was caused by me taking a lot of medications including anti-inflammatories and vitamins. However, I always took these medications, therefore, I think it was the excess weight,” Aguero recalled.

Sergio Aguero and Josep Guardiola – skysports.com

Even a nutritionist worked with Sergio to lose the excess weight, but the weight kept coming back. And upon retiring in 2022, the Argentine laughed as he spoke about his memories with Pep: “He said: ‘How fat you’ve become.’ What could I answer? I knew he was correct. But it happens. For example, if you eat a little chicken, you may weigh 50 grams more. If your ideal weight is 78-80 kg, and you weigh 80 kg and 110 grams, that’s perfectly normal.”

Recently, the most evident case is midfielder Kalvin Phillips. Early last year, the player was excluded from playing for Manchester City due to excess weight. “Phillips is healthy,” Guardiola said. “After the World Cup, he simply returned to Manchester City in overweight condition.I don’t know the reason for this.” Later, Manchester City faced Phillips’s former team — Leeds — and fans welcomed Kalvin with chants “You’re too fat to play for Leeds.” Guardiola later stood up for Phillips, saying that he has “a perfect and beautiful body.”

However, a year later, after spending a loan spell at West Ham, Phillips confessed that Guardiola’s words affected his self-confidence.

The worst moment for me was when after the World Cup, Pep said I was overweight. He was correct to say that, but there are various ways to express oneself. Guardiola wanted me to begin training the day after the World Cup and participate in friendly matches. However, the information was never communicated to me because if they asked me, I would have done it. It was a misunderstanding. He was very upset that I returned to Manchester City 1.5 kg overweight. It greatly damaged my self-confidence and how I felt at City. My family was also sad about it, especially my mother.”

Pep apologized to Kalvin: “Yes, I’m sorry. To apologize once every eight years is not so bad. I’m very sorry. I’m apologizing to him. I truly apologize.

In Russia, coach Valery Karpin is very attentive to the weight of his players. In all of his teams, he keeps the strictest control. Sugar is prohibited. Recently, the coach did not invite Zenit’s Andrei Mostovoy to the national team due to excessive weight.

If a player of City’s leadership misses the match against Nottingham Forest, the reason will be obvious — he overate during the holidays.