Injuries Hit Man City for Community Shield Showdown

 

Pep Guardiola has said when Rodri, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and John Stones will return to Manchester City before their Community Shield match against Manchester United on Saturday. 

All four players played in the final of Euro 2024, between England and Spain, who won the tournament. 

Rodri celebrated his victory, while Foden, Walker, and Stones had to settle for second place three years after losing to Italy in the COVID-delayed Euro 2020 final.

Some of Man City's star players who played for their country over the summer started training again earlier this week. These players include Kevin De Bruyne, Jeremy Doku, Manuel Akanji, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Matheus Nunes, and Joao Cancelo, who spent last season on loan at Barcelona.

However, Roger Rodri, Foden, Walker, and Stones have not yet returned to the Citizens because they were given more time off over the summer.

Since then, Guardiola has said when the four players will return to the club before the 2024–25 season.

Rodri, Foden, Walker, and Stones will not play in the Community Shield. 

Guardiola told the press before their game against Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday, "We try to give them the best rest as much as possible." We'd like more time, but we already gave them a lot.

"All of the players came back. Rodri and the England players will come back next week." Don't think about the plan; just give them what we want.

"What will happen next?" During training, take things one step at a time. For the next game, try to be smart about how much time you spend on training to be fresh in your thoughts.

"So rotate the players as much as possible, and game by game, we'll see what happens."

Another player who might come back is goalkeeper Ederson, who missed the 4-2 friendly win over Chelsea because of "niggles" but has been working this week.

Guardiola talks about the "important" Manchester United match

Man City won an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title in 2023–24, but they will be looking for payback against Man United after losing the FA Cup final to them by a score of 2-1.

Furthermore, City has lost its last three Community Shield games. Guardiola wants his team to end the club's disappointing losing streak in an "important" match against Erik ten Hag's team.

"The game on Saturday is important because it's a final against Manchester United." "But part of that is to try to get better every step of the way," Guardiola said.

"Our break gave most of the players and young players a chance to show how they act on a bigger stage. This is a good game." We're going to do it."

Julian Alvarez will sign a permanent deal with Atletico Madrid this summer, and Guardiola has revealed this. He also explained why the forward chose to leave the Etihad Stadium.