Pep Guardiola has opened up on a Manchester City tradition that has been broken this year amid the club’s poor run of form.
Following defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend, City have won just once in their last 12 games across all competitions and have slipped to seventh in the Premier League.
Now 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool, it’s almost certain Guardiola’s side will not be crowned champions of England for a fifth year in a row as the target must surely be to ensure a top-four finish and Champions League qualification.
With the Spaniard calling on his players to give it their all over the festive period in an attempt to turn around their dire form, Kyle Walker has revealed City boss has called the squad in to train on Christmas Day.
Ultimately this is with the Boxing Day clash at home to Everton in mind. Though it’s not something that City players have become accustomed to in recent seasons.
"We've been fortunate in the past couple of seasons that we haven't had to train on Christmas Day,” the City captain said when speaking on his ‘You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker’ podcast. “We are doing this season because we've got Everton at 12.30 on Boxing Day.
“But the last couple of seasons we've had Christmas Day off, which has been very nice..."
Going into further detail with regards to training plans on Christmas Day, Guardiola issued a rallying cry to his players demanding total commitment.
“We train today and we train tomorrow night, and then we stay here and then play on Boxing Day,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
“Tonight and tomorrow, they will be with their families. Tomorrow night they will be here. Hopefully they want to be here - it is our job.”
Guardiola will be hopeful for a change in fortunes on Boxing Day as there is a scenario where they can drop to 10th if they lose to Everton and other results go against them.
