Dressing room tensions revealed at Manchester City between Pep Guardiola and players | OneFootball

The ongoing campaign has brought tensions within the Manchester City dressing room between Pep Guardiola and ‘some players’, according to a new report.

The Premier League champions find themselves in a challenging position at present across all competitions, having undergone a period of a four-game losing streak for the first time since 2006 and the management of Stuart Pearce.

It is also the first time Pep Guardiola sustained four defeats in a row across all competitions, after City exited the Carabao Cup at the fourth round stage at the hands of Tottenham, before successive defeats in the Premier League to Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Those top-flight defeats on the south coast were also sandwiched by a heavy defeat in European competition, as Sporting CP – managed by Ruben Amorim at the time – came from behind to inflict a 4-1 defeat on Manchester City.

Injuries have certainly played their part, as the long-term absences of Rodri and Oscar Bobb have been added to by problems concerning a number of key stars including Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Jeremy Doku, and Jack Grealish lately.

However, a new report has indicated a further issue that has been prevalent within Manchester City over the last few weeks, stemming from within the dressing room itself and the first-team circle.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s Sam Lee, who reports that while the ongoing injury situation within City has to be considered as the main cause of the first-team’s issues, dressing room tension is credited as being another source of concern.

The report quotes ‘sources who wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships’, who claim that there has been ‘tension in the dressing room’, including between Pep Guardiola and ‘some players’ at Manchester City.

However, it is clarified that such tensions are not especially unusual at Manchester City, and they have been matters that have been overcome several times to win titles in previous campaigns.

Manchester City’s tensions are likely to come from their obsession with winning matches, and the familiarity with ultimate success across campaigns, given that Pep Guardiola’s squad are not used to periods of adversity.

Guardiola and his coaching staff will be hopeful that the ongoing losing run is a temporary result of the injury and fitness issues within the squad, and that their return from the international break alongside returning stars will bring better results to the fore.

Manchester City return to action after the final international break of 2024 with a home Premier League clash against Tottenham at the Etihad Stadium, before clashes in the UEFA Champions League and top-flight dominate December and January in particular.