Manchester City's squad will be bedding down at their Etihad Campus training facilities on Christmas night in a bid to halt their terrifying slump, as Pep Guardiola remains adamant not to disrupt their pre-match rituals despite the holiday season. The Blues, who play host to Everton in an early 12.30pm kick-off on Boxing Day, are seeking to remedy a spell of dismal form which has seen them grasp only one win from their last 12 matches across all competitions.
The City brigade usually bunk up the night before a home match, and it's business as usual for Guardiola. City's talents enjoyed the Christmas morning festivities with their families, quickly shifting gears to reconvene for training in the evening, then turning in for the night at the campus.
"We train today (Tuesday), we train tomorrow (Wednesday) night, we will stay over here and we are going to play on Boxing Day," declared Guardiola. Challenged on whether his players resent spending Christmas at the training ground, Guardiola curtly retorted: "Hopefully they want to be here, because it's our job."
Saturday's discontent was extended by a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, precipitating City's astonishing tumble to SEVENTH place in the Premier League standings – a sizeable gap from their familiar perch as champions of the past four seasons.
Trailing the leaders, Liverpool, by a colossal 12 points, and now surprisingly outflanked by Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, Guardiola's men must swiftly focus on rescuing their campaign and clinching a spot in European competition for the coming year. Concurrently, the club remains beleaguered by the spectre of the 115 charges yet awaited to be addressed in court.
In light of their ongoing poor performance, the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich chief has admitted: "This situation is new for all of us. It's about us, everyone. The guys are running and making an effort more than ever."
He also refuted critics saying: "People say we are not running, fighting, it's this player, this manager - it is not about that. It is about many little details or some big details that make us not as good as we were.
"But we have another opportunity on Boxing Day. We have players coming back and at a certain time we will be better."
