It was on a call with Fifa and Club World Cup rivals that Manchester City’s Ferran Soriano was willing to reveal some of the team’s inner workings.
As long ago as August, City’s chief executive revealed how Pep Guardiola’s staff had been working on their physical programme to ensure the squad would be ready for the tournament in the United States. Such changes might have been a factor in City’s underwhelming season, but the Club World Cup might change perceptions. An entire year may have been building to this.
