Pep Guardiola has continued his overhaul of Manchester City by scrapping pre-match hotel stays for the players, according to the Telegraph and a number of other papers. This had been a tradition at City for some time, but the Catalan is renowned for not believing in it, and has continued that practice in the new era.
This is the latest in a number of changes Guardiola has made, including an almost complete remodel of the senior coaching staff, with just two major names staying on from last season. The squad is also undergoing serious rebuild, with Leroy Sane the latest name to be added to the growing amount of talent at Eastlands.
However, the ending of pre-home game stays in a hotel is a much more subtle alteration, yet one which has been well-received at both Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Pep believes it allows players to be relaxed and better-prepared for the game ahead than if they were taken away from families and made to spend the night with the rest of the squad.
Despite the reception the measure has had at his previous two clubs, the majority of Europe’s top teams still opt to make their players have a sleepover the night before home matches, encouraging them to concentrate on the game instead of becoming distracted. In this case, Guardiola will once again buck the trend.
The change in pre-match plans under Guardiola will leave part of the City Football Academy grounds useless, as full accommodation was specifically designed to be geared towards sleep for the players. Now, with players staying at home the night before games at Eastlands, those sleeping quarters may be largely redundant.
The scrapping of pre-match sleepovers may not be an immediate one, but is likely to be introduced during the opening weeks of the 2016-17 season regardless. The Blues begin the campaign in just under two weeks, at home to Sunderland.
