Injuries are one of the great frustrations for football coaches. The feeling of injustice when you are left without one of your best players for a chunk of the season must be unrivalled.
It’s a feeling Pep Guardiola has had to deal with already this season due to the injury Kevin De Bruyne suffered in the opening Premier League match of the season against Burnley.
Something most managers don’t have to go through is being injured and stuck on the sidelines for a period of time themselves, but that is exactly what has happened to Guardiola.
Here are all the games Guardiola is going to be away from the touchline for.
The Spanish coach is taking time away from the sport because he recently had to undergo emergency back surgery.
It was confirmed by Manchester City Guardiola had struggled with back pain for some time. He flew to Barcelona to undergo the emergency procedure which went successfully at Hospital Quiron.
Guardiola will remain in his home country to undergo his recovery from the surgery and assistant Juanma Lillo will be the face of the team until Guardiola has made his full recovery.
The club added in a statement: “Everyone at Manchester City wishes Pep a speedy recovery, and look forward to seeing him back in Manchester soon.”
The expectation is Guardiola will be back in England after the international break which takes place during the second weekend of September. It is beneficial for Man City that they have been able to time his absence with an international break.
As mentioned, that international break is very nicely timed if we work on the assumed basis that Guardiola will be back in time for the first game when Premier League football returns. Guardiola may actually only miss two City games during his recovery.
The first of those is this weekend’s trip to Sheffield United which is a game very few are expecting Man City to be beaten in. They have so much more quality than the Blades and under the guidance of Lillo, three points should be on the way for Man City.
|
Fixture |
Date |
Kick-off time (BST) |
|---|---|---|
|
Sheffield United vs Manchester City |
27/08/23 |
14:00 |
|
Manchester City vs Fulham |
02/09/23 |
15:00 |
City are back in action the following Saturday when they host Fulham at the Etihad. It has not been a smooth start to the season for the Cottagers and given they are away at Arsenal this weekend, they could be heading to Manchester after back-to-back defeats.
Their next match won’t be until after the international break, a much tougher-looking fixture away at West Ham. That game is on September 16, although it is still subject to schedule changes.
This could be a pretty opportune moment for Guardiola to get his back issues sorted out, with potentially just two fairly simple-looking fixtures for Lillo to take the reins for.
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