Manchester City – Premier League champions. For most people of a sky blue persuasion you’d think that would be a cause for celebration.
With one game to play City have 31 wins, 105 goals and 97 points. Impressive stuff.
However, for manager Pep Guardiola that still isn’t enough.
Despite winning the league by a country mile the City boss still found something to gripe about after last week’s game against Huddersfield Town.
City’s squad were awarded their individual medals after the 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, but players with less than five appearances this season did not receive one.
Both Phil Foden and Brahim Díaz can secure a Premier League medal with a fifth appearance against Southampton on Sunday, but Guardiola has hit out at the fact the duo haven’t already been rewarded.
“I didn’t know it, but it looks ridiculous to me,” he told reporters after the game.
“If they want my medal I will give them my medal. They are champions, they worked from the first day to the last one – training, in the locker room, more training.
“They didn’t play because of my decisions, but it’s the same. Tosin (Adarabioyo) too, from day one in training with us.
“They are champions – it doesn’t matter they don’t have medals. Maybe it’s so expensive to give three, four or five medals for the young guys. They are all the time training with us?”
Oh, Pep, where to begin with this?
Let’s start with the fact that City have been handed 40 winners medals to distribute among the players and staff.
That seems like a decent enough number to recognise the people who have truly contributed to City’s success this term.
Let’s compare it to the number of minutes played in the Premier League this season by the players Guardiola mentioned.
Foden – 36. Diaz – 37. Adarabioyo – none. A grand total of 73 minutes – blink and you’d miss it.
Now Foden, Diaz and Adarabioyo may well have worked their socks off behind the scenes this season, but do their efforts really justify being awarded a medal for winning the league title?
If the answer to that question is ‘yes’ then surely there’s an argument for dishing them out to all and sundry?
How about the catering staff? They spent an entire season keeping City’s players suitably fed and watered so they could perform at their best.
No doubt their efforts were significantly more than the 73 minutes Guardiola afforded his supposedly medal-deserving trio during City’s title-winning campaign.
Flower it up any way you like, but Guardiola’s suggestion that players who barely figured in a title triumph should be awarded a medal is barmy.
Medals are a recognition that someone has made a significant contribution to the success of a team. City were given 40 of them to do just that.
Handing them out willy-nilly simply devalues their worth – put a sock in it Pep.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
