England Keeps Frustrating Guardiola
This Tuesday, England called up Jack Grealish for matches against Greece and the Republic of Ireland, despite the English winger not having played since October 20, with his expected return set for after the international break.
Lee Carsley, who did leave out the recently injured John Stones, has called up four Manchester City players for his final roster before Thomas Tuchel’s arrival: Rico Lewis, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, and Grealish.
The winger got injured on October 20 in a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and hasn’t played a single minute since, missing a total of five games.
Despite this situation, Carsley has decided to include Grealish in this friendly, which probably won’t please Guardiola, who already suffered when Rodrigo Hernández played his first minutes of the season with Spain, just days before tearing his ACL. The worst experience for the coach was when John Stones was injured in a friendly last spring.
“In friendlies, you can’t get injured. You can play, but you can’t come back injured. I know players obviously don’t want to get injured, and I’ve always encouraged them to join their national team—it’s a pleasure. But if it’s a friendly, you can’t come back injured. Especially if you then have to play a Champions League quarterfinal against Real Madrid,” Guardiola said, recalling the incidents with Stones and Kyle Walker during the April break.
“I had never been so angry. I had never been so disappointed. A friendly and two players injured. I didn’t like it at all.”
