Pep Guardiola shows true colours as Jurgen Klopp proved right amid Liverpool boost

Ex-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp publicly slammed the Club World Cup during the summer and now Pep Guardiola has bemoaned fatigue after Man City failed to see out their lead against Arsenal

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has bemoaned fatigue for their drop off in standards as they slipped eight points behind Liverpool. The Spaniard's complaints echo criticism from former Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, who publicly slammed the Club World Cup in the summer.

City are looking to challenge back at the top of the Premier League after surrendering their stranglehold over the competition to the Reds in Arne Slot's first season. However, they have endured a tough start to the season and now sit behind the early pace-setters after Liverpool maintained their winning start to the season with a 2-1 win over Everton.

Guardiola's side were among the clubs who competed in the Club World Cup in America during the summer, extending their gruelling season and offering a small window of recovery, with Chelsea having just 34 days off before the new campaign started after reaching the final.

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City were knocked out in the Round of 16 at the beginning of July, a matter of days before top-flight clubs returned for pre-season training.

Sunday's draw with Arsenal at the Emirates was the third match in a week for City after encounters with Manchester United and Napoli. Erling Haaland fired the visitors in front before a 93rd-minute effort from Gabriel Martinelli ensured the Gunners earned a point.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach noted that his side were not up to the performance levels and admitted his players were "incredibly tired".

"We cannot make an excuse without what happened this week, a tough game against United, Champions League Thursday and today against a team like this, so powerful," he said.

"Hats off to the team, their resilience, it's so difficult when you're not affecting the high pressure, the build-up, it's already so tough to do it."

Guardiola then issued a spiky response to whether the scheduling is a direct result of their downturn in performances, adding: "They [Arsenal] were better and we were incredibly tired. People don't realise, the game against Napoli was so emotional after that a recovery day then it's four or five hours to arrive in London, it's more fatigue and everything.

"A team like Arsenal, who fought in the last two Premier Leagues, Champions League semi-final, not just Man City invest money they did it as well but we were there.

"We have to be strong and you have to have mentality, we have that. Honestly, of course it will affect you, the mindset will have to be strong but we have fatigue with the same players and we have players injured.

"John [Stones] came back injured from the international team, [Rayan] Cherki, Rayan [Ait-Nouri]r, Nathan [Ake] has been out for a long time. So many things have happened but if you want to bring the fact that I don't want to complain about the schedule, that's okay I'm complaining for the schedule. Are you satisfied?"

Despite being out of the dugout for over a year, Klopp has remained with finger on the pulse regarding footballers and their duty of care. During his time at Liverpool, the German was regularly an advocate for winter breaks in the Premier League and reducing the number of matches that players have to play.

With the Club World Cup contradicting his belief of fewer matches and higher quality performances, he publicly slammed the competition, describing it as 'worst idea ever in football'.

Speaking to Welt in the summer, Klopp said: "In the end, it's all about the game and not the surrounding aspects - and that's why the Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard.

"People who have never had anything to do with day-to-day business or who no longer have anything to do with it come up with something.

"Last year we had the Copa America and European Championship, this year the Club World Cup and next year then the World Cup.

"This means no real recovery for the players who are there, neither physically nor mentally. An NBA player, who also earns a big salary, has a four-month break every year. This is what (Liverpool defender) Virgil van Dijk got in his entire career."

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