Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has promised to keep his half-time team talks brief following the club’s £2.09m fine for repeatedly delaying kickoffs and halftime restarts.
The Premier League imposed the penalty after City breached rules 22 times “without good reason.”
When asked about the fine, Guardiola said, “I just read it in the news. I will try to do my speeches at half-time shorter.” He made this comment ahead of Saturday’s pre-season match against Chelsea in Columbus, USA.
With several senior players unavailable due to Euro 2024 and the Copa America, Guardiola has given significant playing time to Norway striker Erling Haaland.
Haaland, who had been nursing “muscle niggles,” is expected to play a few minutes after recovering from his injury.
Guardiola declined to comment on rumors linking Atletico Madrid to striker Julian Alvarez, who is currently representing Argentina at the Olympics in Paris.
However, he praised his Chelsea counterpart, Enzo Maresca, a former member of his staff. “I’m really pleased for him,” Guardiola said. “We spent a special year together. He’s an incredible, lovely person, and his family too.
He did a really good job at Leicester, achieving promotion to the Premier League, and now he’s managing one of the top five or six teams in England. I wish him the best because he deserves it. Nice people deserve the best.”
