Pep Guardiola has warned his players ahead of the festive period. Man City’s squad will get a few days off to spend time with family and friends, but they are expected back in top shape on Christmas Day. Guardiola has scheduled a weigh-in and is strict: putting on too much weight means you will not travel to Nottingham Forest.
Pep Guardiola has delivered a clear and uncompromising message to his Manchester City players ahead of the festive period: a short break is allowed, but only if standards remain intact.
The squad will be given a few days away to spend time with family and friends, yet the manager expects every player to return on Christmas Day in top physical condition. To ensure there is no drift in discipline, Guardiola has scheduled a weigh in immediately upon their return, using it as a direct checkpoint of professionalism and readiness.
The timing is central to why Guardiola is being so strict. Manchester City have their next match almost immediately after the brief holiday. They travel to Nottingham Forest for a one thirty pm kick off on Saturday, the twenty seventh of December two thousand and twenty five. With such a quick turnaround, there is limited opportunity to rebuild sharpness if players return carrying extra weight or lacking conditioning. Guardiola has therefore set a firm consequence in advance: any player who comes back having gained too much weight will not travel and will remain in Manchester for that Nottingham Forest fixture.
This hard line comes despite a positive result just before the break. City beat West Ham United by three nil on Saturday, with Tijjani Reijnders among the goalscorers. Even so, Guardiola was not fully satisfied with the overall level of performance. That reaction speaks to his broader mindset: results matter, but he measures his team against a higher internal benchmark that includes tempo, intensity, control of phases, and the consistency of decision making. In that context, the festive break is not a pause in expectations. It is simply a short recovery window within a season that demands constant physical and mental precision.
Guardiola also rejected a request from the squad to extend the Christmas break by an extra day. His reasoning was straightforward. Returning at the right time, and in the right condition, improves freshness in the legs and allows the team to maintain rhythm. In modern elite football, the difference between feeling fresh and feeling heavy is often the difference between starting sharply and spending the early stages of a match chasing the game. From Guardiola’s perspective, that margin is too important to leave to chance.
While he encouraged players to use the time to be with their families and briefly switch off from football, he made it equally clear that switching off mentally does not mean letting habits slip. The weigh in is intended to reinforce that point. The squad was weighed before the break began, and the follow up on Christmas Day will show who maintained routine and who did not. It is a practical mechanism for accountability, but it is also symbolic. It signals that every player remains responsible for their preparation, even when they are away from the training ground.
The warning about the Nottingham Forest trip is particularly telling because it ties the consequence directly to selection. Guardiola is effectively saying that availability is not just about avoiding injury, it is also about presenting yourself in the right condition to compete. In his example, a player who is top fit before the break but returns on the twenty fifth having gained around three kilos will not be rewarded with minutes or even with inclusion in the travelling group. The player stays in Manchester. That is designed to eliminate negotiation and to ensure that status, reputation, or past contributions do not override present standards.
From a performance perspective, this kind of rule has a clear logic. Even a small gain in weight can reduce sharpness over short distances, affect repeat sprint ability, and increase fatigue during high intensity phases. It can also change how a player tolerates training load in the days after return, because staff may need to manage the player differently to avoid overload or soft tissue issues. When the next match is so close, any need for additional conditioning work becomes a problem. Guardiola is prioritising immediate match readiness, which means he wants the entire group to return able to train at full intensity and to execute tactical work without compromise.
There is also a squad dynamic element. Guardiola often talks about collective responsibility and the importance of the group operating at a consistent level. If some players return fully prepared while others return undercooked, training quality can drop. That affects everyone, not only the players who arrived in poorer condition. By setting a standard that applies to all, and by attaching a tangible consequence, he is protecting the overall environment and ensuring that preparation is aligned across the squad.
The upcoming trip to Nottingham Forest adds competitive urgency. Away matches during the festive calendar can be demanding in terms of atmosphere, physical duels, and the need to control momentum swings. Forest at home are capable of making matches uncomfortable, especially if the opponent starts slowly or lacks intensity. Guardiola clearly wants City to arrive with full energy, able to impose their game early rather than needing time to play themselves into rhythm. His strictness suggests he expects the first minutes to matter and he wants no player arriving with an avoidable physical disadvantage.
This approach also reflects Guardiola’s long standing preference for clear rules rather than vague expectations. A weigh in is measurable. It avoids subjective debates about who looks sharp and who does not. It also sends a simple message to players about what matters in the short break: maintain base conditioning, keep diet under control, and return ready to perform. Enjoyment is allowed, but it must sit alongside responsibility.
In practical terms, the players can still have time with family, meals, and normal holiday moments, but within a framework. The manager’s comments indicate he is not trying to remove the human side of the holiday period. He is trying to prevent the predictable problem of players returning heavier and needing days to recover their edge. In a season where the second half often defines titles, European progress, and legacy, Guardiola is framing this period as a pivot point. He wants City to hit the ground running immediately after Christmas, not to treat the return as a slow restart.
The message, ultimately, is direct. Rest is fine. Switching off is fine. But the standards do not move. Christmas Day is not just a return date, it is a checkpoint. And the Nottingham Forest match on the twenty seventh is not just another fixture, it is the immediate test of whether the squad treated the break professionally. Guardiola has put responsibility in the hands of his players, and he has removed any doubt about the consequence for those who do not meet the requirement.
Updated: 11:05, 22 Dec 2025
