In a surprising move, Erling Haaland stayed on the sidelines as Manchester City battled but ultimately bowed out of the Carabao Cup against Tottenham. Pep Guardiola stood firm on his decision to rest his star striker, revealing that using Haaland in the 2-1 loss would’ve been, in his words, a “waste of energy.”
Despite trailing in the second half, Guardiola resisted the temptation to deploy Haaland, who had scored City’s winning goal just days earlier. “The plan was not to play today,” Guardiola explained. “We have not had much recovery and it was a waste of energy.” Haaland, set to return to action against Bournemouth on Saturday, remained on the bench as Guardiola focused on protecting his key scorer for upcoming challenges.
The game also added to City’s injury woes. Manuel Akanji faced an issue in the warm-up, Ruben Dias had to leave at halftime, and the biggest blow came as young star Savinho was stretchered off just after the hour mark. “It is what it is,” Guardiola stated, acknowledging the strain on his squad. “The limit of the players is there… We’ll see tomorrow [about Savinho’s injury]. Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker, no chance to play the next games.”
Guardiola’s concerns are mounting as City, currently top of the Premier League, are navigating their toughest injury crisis in years. “We have 13 players, we are in real difficulties,” he admitted. “The guys that play, they finish most of them with problems, and we’ll see how they recover. I think we are in trouble because, in nine years, we’ve never been in a situation with so many injuries.”
With Rodri sidelined due to a ruptured ACL and Kevin De Bruyne still out with an unspecified return date, Guardiola’s team faces a challenging road ahead. Yet, he remains optimistic, commending the resilience of his squad: “The players make a step forward, more together than ever, and we will try to do this week in this short time of recovery.”
