"Manchester Evening News" reported that Manchester City's huge lineup may determine the team's success or failure this season.
At the press conference before the international match day, Guardiola said that he would go on vacation. Hopefully the Manchester City boss returns refreshed and ready for a crucial phase that could decide the course of his season.
This weekend, Blue Moon will return to play against Newcastle, the first of nine games in the 28 days before Christmas. Subsequent festive fixtures revealed that City would have a further 10 games to play before the end of January. This is a crazy schedule, with a total of 18 games in four events in 71 days, which will determine the direction of the entire season.
Manchester City enter this busy schedule with the encouragement of their victory over Liverpool during the international break. That victory narrowed the gap between them and Arsenal, the Premier League leader, to 4 points. Guardiola has also welcomed the return of a number of injured players in recent weeks, with only the midfield duo of Rodri and Kovacic still on the injured list.
But Blue Moon will lose Malmouche and Aite Nouri due to the African Cup of Nations next month, so the full depth of Manchester City's lineup needs to be used to deal with this intensive schedule. Early progress in the Champions League will help, as will the deeper squad options available to Guardiola.
In 2025, Manchester City spent more than 350 million pounds and added a large number of players to the first team lineup. That means Guardiola has more options at his disposal than at any other time during his time at Manchester City.
The Blue Moon have a squad of 26 first-team players, and while that number is slightly higher due to the inclusion of four goalkeepers as well as Kalvin Phillips (who has yet to make a Premier League matchday squad this season), it does show the abundance of options, especially considering that Guardiola usually only uses 18-20 first-team players.
In fact, towards the end of last season, he talked about not wanting to expand his squad with more players, even if the unforgiving schedule seemed to warrant it.
Guardiola said at the time: "I told the club I don't want a bigger squad, I don't want five or six players on the bench. I don't want that. I will resign. Put together a leaner squad and I will stay. Telling my players in the stands that they can't play is impossible."
But despite this statement, what he now has is a bigger squad, and a bigger squad may prove to be the key to Manchester City's success or failure this season.
Arsenal have strengthened significantly over the past 18 months in a bid to win their first Premier League title since 2004, and Guardiola's compromise on squad size and having to have difficult conversations with his players will be a price worth paying if City are to keep pace and compete in four competitions.