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The pre-season is a time of improvising for Pep Guardiola. The Spanish manager misses a lot of important players during their tour in the United States. Pep saw 16 of his players in action during the World Cup in Russia this summer. A big part of these 16 players came to the latter stages of this tournament, so they are enjoying a well-deserved holiday at this moment. Which is far from ideal, since the match for the Community Shield is already in two weeks.
The first pre-season match in the United States finished in a 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund. Riyad Mahrez was the only players in Man City’s line-up that we can see as a regular starter for Man City this season. Claudio Bravo will be the second goalkeeper behind Ederson again and the rest of the line-up was filled with youngsters that are fighting to get a spot in the squad during for the upcoming season. It will be a big surprise if any of these players will become a regular starter.
Pep Guardiola isn’t worried about the fact he’s still misses the majority of his players. He said about this situation: “It is what it is, I won’t pressure them to come back quickly. I want them to be physically and mentally ready when they come back.” We can rule out any of these players will be there during the Community Shield final against Chelsea. Even the first Premier League match against Arsenal will probably come too early for the players who played in the final weekend of the World Cup. It’s going to be a long and hard season for the Citizens, so they don’t want to push players too early in the season.
