Pep Guardiola picked a fight with David Silva earlier this season, according to the Mail.
After the 2-2 draw with Spurs, the Spaniard reportedly criticised the legendary playmaker for a lack of running, in the dressing room – causing a rift between the pair.
It’s Pep’s fourth season in charge of City and having won two Premier League titles out of three and a number of domestic cups. As a result, there’s a suggestion that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to motivate the same players with the same message.
Jurgen Klopp famously suffered from something similar at Borussia Dortmund in his final season, while Mauricio Pochettino is perhaps experiencing it now with Spurs…
Liverpool didn’t make any changes to the team in the summer either though, and are eight wins from eight in the Premier League.
Maybe missing out on 97 points in 2018/19 merely increased the need to secure the title this season – with a late goal against Leicester on Saturday continuing our perfect start.
In fairness to City, they’ve been affected by injuries. Aymeric Laporte is the biggest issue, but Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne are both world-class players whose absence will be noticed.
Liverpool have been without Alisson all campaign, and some outfield players are bound to pick up issues at some stage.
It’s the job of the bench to come in and keep up the good work, which Klopp trusts them implicitly to do.