While Erling Haaland has been impressive in his debut season with Manchester City, he has missed a few games due to injury.
Guardiola acknowledged that Haaland’s size requires more care
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has spoken about the care that the club takes of star striker Erling Haaland to ensure that he remains injury-free. While Haaland has been impressive in his debut season with Manchester City, he has missed a few games due to injury. Guardiola noted that while he is unsure about how Borussia Dortmund looked after Haaland when he was with them, Manchester City has a team of incredible doctors and physios who are behind the striker every second of the day. Guardiola acknowledged that Haaland’s size requires more care, and that the physios take care of him by massaging his back, shoulders, tendons, and other areas of his body.
The club’s priority was to protect the Norwegian and avoid injury
According to Guardiola, Haaland works much more time inside the training centre than on the pitch. In modern football, players train more behind the scenes than on the pitch, and this is necessary to ensure that they remain healthy and injury-free. Guardiola emphasized that taking care of players is essential in today’s demanding schedule of games every three or four days. This includes paying attention to their nutrition, rest, sleep, and food, as well as the duration of their training sessions. Guardiola also cited data that indicates that players cannot train more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time. He explained that this is why Haaland was substituted against Leipzig, even though he had already scored five goals. The club’s priority was to protect him and avoid injury, especially given the demanding schedule of games.
Guardiola’s comments reflect the growing importance that clubs are placing on player welfare and injury prevention. With high-profile players like Haaland, clubs are investing more in medical staff and training facilities to keep them healthy and on the pitch. While injuries are inevitable in football, Manchester City’s approach to managing Haaland’s fitness is an example of how clubs are working to minimize the risk of injuries and ensure that their star players are fit and ready to perform at their best.