Former Liverpool star gives honest answer as Manchester City players sleep on training ground on Christmas Day
Manchester City's under-pressure stars slept at the club's training ground on Christmas Day as they look to improve their worrying form.
There are already nine defeats in 12 games for pep guardiola''s men who seemed very off the pace last time as they lost 2-1 to Villa Aston.
As the Citizens do everything they can to ensure they recover, the players were forced to spend the night at their training camp.
That's because they face Everton at the Etihad Stadium at 12:30 p.m. live on talkSPORT.
And coach Guardiola wanted to make sure they maintained their usual routines, despite it being the Christmas season.
When asked about his plans, he said: “We train today (Tuesday), tomorrow (Christmas) night, we'll stay here and we'll play on Boxing Day.”
And he added: “I hope they want to be here, because it is our job.”
Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders He joked that it was probably a nice night for the City stars.
And he added that they would be in a luxurious environment, even though on the surface it seems like a miserable environment.
He told talkSPORT: “I can imagine all the Manchester City players gathered around watching the Gavin and Stacey final last night together in their Christmas pajamas.
“That's normal, you know. It's normal. It sounds bad to stay at the training ground. Man City's training ground is like the Hilton.”
And Saunders was quick to insist that such a move was not unusual for the players.
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He added: “Even when I was playing for Liverpool in 1992, we had to stay in the hotel on Friday night.
“At home games? Yeah, we stayed at the hotel and Roy Evans and Ronnie Moran would come and knock on your door around ten-thirty, right, two of them, and you'd open the door and they… I'd pretend they have anti-inflammatories for you.
“So they would have tablets, Roy would have red ones and Ronnie would have blue ones. And they would be red or blue, red or blue, so they would check your room.
“All they do is make sure you're in your room and you're not somewhere else drinking or something.”
When asked if he had ever run away, especially at Christmas, he added: “Never ever.
“Look me in the eyes. I never ever drank after a Thursday. Thursday night, no, seriously, I never did.
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“I was too scared that it would make me do something stupid.”
Meanwhile, Saunders insists Manchester City will improve again but has warned against comments that English football needs a winter break.
And he added: “The cream always rises to the top. The players he has are too good to keep down for so long. But going back to the winter holidays, it really bothers me. Pep has grown up with a winter holiday.
“Just to show that I'm not biased, I've tried for Jurgen Klopp, because people think I'm just not trying for Liverpool. He used to say, Avram Grant, remember him? 'We're going to have a chance.'” Winter break '.
“You never see it again. It's gone. You never see it again. Let's change all the rules in England, which is the best league in the world, by the way.
“And our grandfather used to take us to the football on Boxing Day, the festive period that is brilliant in English football. The fans love it. The players love it. The only people who don't like it are the coaches.”
Asked if he found it difficult to play over the festive period, Saunders added: “No, I just got used to it. Every Christmas Day we trained. We travelled. It's your job.”
“As a footballer, you're 10 months on, two months off, on full salary. So in the summer you get paid to sit, when everyone is sweating at work in an office, you're on a boat somewhere. place receiving full salary. So during the 10 months that you have been there, which includes Easter holidays, Christmas holidays, we are the entertainment for the public.
“That's why they pay us a fortune, because we play, we are the entertainment on vacation.”
