Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has advised his players to look towards the example set by Rafael Nadal during his professional tennis career.
Nadal won 22 Grand Slam titles, including a record 14 at the French Open, but struggled at various points with nagging, and occasionally serious, injuries.
City have been a dominant force under Guardiola, winning four consecutive Premier League titles, but they find themselves under increasing pressure from Arsenal and Liverpool, who have made a strong start to life under Arne Slot.
Their bid to a win another Premier League crown has got off to a strong start, with seven wins and two draws taken from their opening nine games, but Guardiola’s squad is being tested by a number of injuries.
Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb are all sidelined with various ailments, while a number of others are also struggling with niggles and general fitness concerns.
But in Guardiola’s estimation, players sometimes have to recognise when to push through the pain barrier – something Nadal did throughout his legendary career.
“There are moments when injuries are [harmful] injuries and be careful but sometimes if you have problems you have to play,” Guardiola said.
“Rafa Nadal played all of his career with pain. He played. And won I don’t know how many Grand Slams. You have to deal with it in modern football or you can’t sustain games every three days at a top club. Kevin is getting better. The last two, three days the doctor said to me that he made a step forward in terms of pain.
“It depends on the players. There are players who say, ‘OK, I’m ready’ and there are players who have more tendency to get niggles with their history. There are the others who just go, go go – that it doesn’t matter what happens. It’s not because they are more or less [focused]. It’s that they can adapt to sustain incredible amounts of efforts every day more than the other ones.”
City rested a number of players in midweek for their Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, likely with the intention of fielding their strongest possible side to face Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Victory will keep City ahead of Liverpool, who host Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield, but any slip up could see Slot’s charges end the weekend in top spot.
