‘Keep things like this in house… Poor from Pep!’: Guardiola’s ‘odd’ decision to reveal midfielder Kalvin Phillips returned from the World Cup ‘overweight’ is slammed as ‘very bad management’
Pep Guardiola has been criticised over his ‘odd’ decision to go public that Kalvin Phillips returned from the World Cup overweight.
The Manchester City boss did not hold back when discussing the England midfielder on Friday, revealing he had been banished from training having returned out of shape.
‘Very bad management by #Guardiola – what was he thinking putting this out in public?’ one Twitter user asked.
Pep Guardiola (right) has been criticised for revealing Kalvin Phillips (left) is overweight
A number of people on Twitter questioned the ‘very bad management’ displayed by Guardiola
‘Private conversation that’s now public, this is odd from Pep,’ another added.
There was a great deal of confusion as to why Guardiola felt the need to be so honest when it came to Phillips’ conditioning.
‘Not great from Pep Guardiola re Kalvin Phillips,’ a third tweeted. ‘Keep things like this in house. Poor from Pep on this particular occasion.’
Phillips has been banished from training after returning to Manchester City overweight
The central midfielder – who has played just 94 minutes of competitive football this season due to injuries – was left out of City’s squad for Thursday night’s victory over Liverpool.
Phillips was told not to train with his team-mates when the England and Portuguese players who had been in Qatar reported back for club duty on Wednesday.
‘He’s not injured – he arrived overweight,’ Guardiola said. ‘I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.’
Those who had been on international duty were afforded extended time away before the return of the domestic season.
The 27-year-old arrived from Leeds for £42million a few weeks after City lifted the title in 2021
BeIN Sport presenter Richard Keys accused Guardiola of double standards for ‘ridiculing’ Phillips – saying he never did likewise with Sergio Aguero
Richard Keys also tore into Guardiola and accused him of double standards over the Phillips issue.
BeIN Sports presenter Keys, however, took to Twitter to take aim at Guardiola for his remarks.
Posting the back page of the Daily Mirror, which splashed on the story, he wrote: ‘I’m wondering why Guardiola has exposed Phillips to ridicule for this ‘crime’.
‘Never a word when he used to leave [Sergio] Aguero out for the same offence. Strange.’
Guardiola once dropped Aguero after he reported back 100g past his 80kg weight limit
Now retired, Aguero has since revealed that Guardiola had strict rules on his weight behind closed doors – but this never reared itself publicly for the Argentine.
‘If your ideal weight is 79-80kg and you were 80 kilos and 100 grams you would be fined and you don’t play,’ Aguero said back in October.
‘But it can happen! You come across a little bit of chicken for example then you are going to be 50 grams over!’
He added: ‘Well the first season we were between fourth and third and he said “I left you out because you turned up fat this week”. And what was I going to say? He was right… these things happen.’
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