If Pep Guardiola talks about an international break, he often says the same thing.
He will bemoan the amount of games his Manchester City players must play, accept that they want to play for their countries, and express hope that none of them pick up any injuries. This season, more than most, the topic of player welfare on international duty has been a talking point, with the World Cup approaching that will put the Premier League on hold for six weeks.
Guardiola even said earlier this season that national teams won't take clubs into account when playing their best players, so he won't consider the national teams when making his own selections. It's an uneasy arrangement that underlines his long-held stance that players are playing too many games; but with so much pressure to win, he has no choice but to play his strongest team at any point.
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In doing so, he accepts that national team managers will do the same thing. Norway's manager Stale Solbakken was asked last week if he would limit Erling Haaland's game time over the current international break, to which he replied with a pretty emphatic 'no'.
"At least it is absolutely certain," he said when asked if he would lean heavily on Haaland, adding: "I was a bit worried when I saw the last game against Wolverhampton, when he ran around like a fool at 3-0 to make it 4-0. He yells and slaps god and every man because he doesn't get the ball. I screamed 'calm down, Erling, there are more important games to come.'"
Those sorts of comments support Guardiola's belief that there is no point relying on national teams to rest players for the benefit of their club seasons. It's why he always refers to a successful international break from City's perspective as one where his squad return with no injuries.
It seems this time, he won't get his wish, as John Stones limped out of England's draw with Germany on Tuesday, and Gareth Southgate confirmed he had felt something in his hamstring. Even if it's not a serious hamstring issue, that would surely put Stones out of the Manchester derby on Sunday, plus potentially upcoming fixtures against Copenhagen in the Champions League and against Liverpool in the Premier League in the coming month.
It's not as if Stones was overused by England as he was suspended for the defeat to Italy. This was just pure bad luck — or maybe Guardiola will argue that it was in fact a result of an unsustainable demand on elite players. Because, with all the talk of how the World Cup will affect the domestic schedule, Guardiola has been warning for weeks about having too many fixtures and the inevitable injuries that will follow.
He even predicted more injury setbacks for Stones when explaining why City made a late move for Manuel Akanji in the transfer market.
Speaking before the win at Sevilla earlier this month, Guardiola said: "We are lucky the club give me Manuel Akanji otherwise we be in real trouble. The club moved quick to bring in another player in this positions. The history for John and Nathan [Ake] they aren’t quite reliable to play every week. It is what it is. Mainly because this incredible schedule for many years, the players cannot sustain it for a long time."
City are indeed lucky that they were able to sign Akanji, who is already proving to be worth every penny of his £15m fee given the injuries to Stones, Ake and Kyle Walker since he arrived, plus Aymeric Laporte's ongoing absence. It might have been a last-minute signing, but it was one that solved a problem Guardiola has been warning could happen in every press conference this season.
When Stones limped off at Wembley, his expectations were realised. Now City, and Stones will wait to see the full extent of his injury. City will be hoping their Premier League campaign won't be too affected, while Stones may be more concerned about his World Cup place.
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