Man City face Club World Cup 'disaster' Pep Guardiola fears could 'destroy' their season

Pep Guardiola fears Manchester City will suffer after-effects from the Club World Cup (Image: Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola has admitted his concerns that Manchester City's participation in the Club World Cup could spell "disaster" and potentially "destroy" their upcoming season. The City manager is apprehensive about the potential impact on his team's title prospects given the lack of a proper summer break following their US tour. Thomas Tuchel, the England manager, has already cautioned that Liverpool and Arsenal could have a "huge advantage" in the title race next season by not being involved.

Guardiola insists that his current focus is on his players regaining their form and winning mentality in the US, after ending the previous season without any silverware. But he 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."

Guardiola has expressed his desire for his City players to reignite their competitive edge and reclaim the formidable form which defined them for nearly a decade. The City boss wants his team to recapture the same intensity in matches that they exhibit during training.

He added: "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."

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are into the Club World Cup knockout rounds (Image: Getty Images)

Addressing past criticism from Jurgen Klopp, now head of global sport at Red Bull, Guardiola responded to the claim that the Club World Cup was "the worst idea ever" and accused of overcrowding the schedule for monetary gain. Despite their heated rivalry in the Premier League, Klopp attended the tournament with Salzburg, who are part of Red Bull's sports portfolio.

Guardiola said: "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.

"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."