‘They can eat, but I want to control them’: Pep Guardiola issues warning to Manchester City players ahead of Christmas break

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Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola reacts as he watches his team during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and West Ham United in Manchester, England, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that players who overindulge during the Christmas period risk being dropped for the Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Spaniard said that every player in the squad would be weighed when they return to training on Christmas, two days before the match.

He added that each player was weighed before the match against West Ham United, which they won 3-0.

“Every player make a weight [on Friday]. They come back on the 25th and I will be there controlling how many kilos come up. The moment they arrive after three days [off] I want to see how they come back.”

“They can eat, but I want to control them. I have to make a selection against Nottingham Forest. Imagine one player and now he’s perfect but he will arrive with three kilos more. He will [stay] in Manchester. He will not travel to Nottingham Forest,” Guardiola said.

The 54-year-old said that the players’ request for an off on Sunday after the win on Saturday was cancelled because he felt that they could have played better against The Hammers.

“The players asked me to take a day off [on Sunday], I said, no, because you didn’t play good enough”.

“[On Sunday] recovery, train the guys that didn’t play, and after three days off, you have two days to prepare for Nottingham Forest. The schedule is so tight and the players have to forget. The players have to go with the families and forget football,” he said.

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There will be only one Premier League match on Boxing Day, Friday, due to a crunched football calendar. This has resulted in the addition of the Conference League competition to the Champions League and the Europa League, thereby increasing the number of match days on the football calendar.

“The Premier League would like to acknowledge the circumstances that have led to a reduced number of matches on Boxing Day this season – impacting an important tradition in English football.

“There are now several challenges to Premier League fixture scheduling rooted in the expansion of European club competitions – which led to a revision of our domestic calendar ahead of last season, including changes to the FA Cup. This ultimately left the Premier League as a 33-weekend competition – fewer than previous seasons, despite being a 380-match competition since 1995.”

‘”With fewer weekends to work with, the league is bound by how the calendar falls. The league can give an assurance that next season there will be more Premier League matches on Boxing Day – as the date falls on a Saturday, “ the Premier League said in a statement.

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