Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City players that if they overindulge over their Christmas break, they risk being dropped from the squad for the next game against Nottingham Forest.
Guardiola revealed after the 3-0 win over West Ham on Saturday that each of his players were weighed on Friday.
They are set to be re-weighed when they return to training on Christmas Day and Guardiola said he will be keeping a keen eye on the results before picking a squad to face Nottingham Forest on Dec. 27.
“Every player make a weight [on Friday],” Guardiola said. “They come back on the 25th and I will be there controlling how many kilos come up. The moment they arrive after three days [off] I want to see how they come back.
“They can eat, but I want to control them.
“I have to make a selection against Nottingham Forest. Imagine one player and now he’s perfect but he will arrive with three kilos more. He will [stay] in Manchester. He will not travel to Nottingham Forest.”
City are second in the Premier League table, two points behind leaders Arsenal.
Despite the comfortable win over West Ham and being well-positioned in the league, Guardiola said parts of the performance were “not good.”
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In response, the City boss cancelled a planned day off on Sunday and instead reduced the players’ break to three days.
“The players asked me to take a day off [on Sunday], I said no, because you didn’t play good enough,” said Guardiola, who is planning to spend his Christmas break in Barcelona.
“[On Sunday] recovery, train the guys that didn’t play, and after three days off, you have two days to prepare for Nottingham Forest.
“The schedule is so tight and the players have to forget. The players have to go with the families and forget football.”