Pep Guardiola opens up on fears Club World Cup will 'destroy' Man City's main aim

Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City could be facing a Club World Cup “disaster” which could “destroy” next season. Guardiola says he fears the hangover from the competition could hit City’s title chances next winter because his players will not have had a proper summer break after the United States.

England boss Thomas Tuchel has already warned that City’s rivals Liverpool and Arsenal will have a “huge advantage” in next season’s title race. City boss Guardiola insisted he cannot worry about it and placed a greater importance on his players rediscovering their mojo and winning touch in the US after finishing last season empty-handed.

Guardiola said: “After this, let’s see what happens. We can rest and take the time that the Premier League has allowed us to rest and then we will see. Maybe in November, December or January it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and the World Cup has destroyed us. I don’t know but it’s the first time in our lives that this has happened.

“Mentally I think in the past the players have played in World Cups or European Championships for their national teams so it happens sometimes. You need a rest mentally sometimes, you can recover and then we will see when we come back.

“But I try not to think about it otherwise I would get too anxious. Instead, I try to relax, enjoy the days here and the good vibes that we have. The most important thing is to recover to find within ourselves what we were. That’s my main target in this tournament.

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“I want the players to rediscover themselves, to visualise the way we play when they train, play like we can in those training sessions and then take that into the games so they can say: ‘Oh, this is what we were.’

“I want them to feel that this is our path again to be competitive like we have been in eight of the last nine years. That was incredible and this is the main target from the competition.

“I was really pleased to go through against Juventus but more important is the fact that the players can visualise that they can do it again, they can compete again, be a competitive team again and be that incredible, fantastic and aggressive team that we have been.

“They have been amazing and they have already shown that against Juventus who are an amazing team who went out of the Champions League in the quarter finals and they have an incredible team and squad.”

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Guardiola also answered former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s accusations that the Club World Cup was “the worst idea ever” because of the impact on the calendar and was only a money-making exercise. They were huge rivals in the Premier League but now Klopp is now head of global sport at Red Bull and Salzburg are under the umbrella but were at the Club World Cup.

Guardiola added: “Listen, I fought a lot with Jurgen many, many times. I know where his idea comes from. We fought a lot in England, and also when we went to the UEFA meetings, and especially when we discussed the Premier League calendar, and how to add more quality to it.

“We discussed giving the managers and players more rest, because that's how you add more quality. So his comments [on the Club World Cup] didn't surprise me a lot. I understand him. I respect him.

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“I've had an incredible relationship with Jurgen for many years as rivals. Now he's stepped back from that position as a manager and I understand his argument, because I would defend his argument as well. At the same time, as managers we are in a job.

“We follow the FIFA, UEFA, Premier League or Serie A rules. As managers, we don't organise the competitions. Once we are here, we are proud. Many, many teams complain about these competitions because they are not here, otherwise they might love being here.

“They would have their media and supporters here, and there would be income to be here, and they would be happy to be here. Of course, it's not an ideal situation for the manager.

“Would I love to have two months to prepare for next season? Yes. Would I love to be refreshed for next season? Yes. But it is what it is. And we deserve what we have done in the past to be here. Once we are here, let's do our best possible.”

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