FORMER Manchester City star Gael Clichy has lifted the lid on Pep Guardiola’s tough Etihad regime — which includes being banned from training for not following one simple rule.
Clichy, 38, spent six seasons starring for City between 2011 and 2017.
A Premier League and FA Cup winner with Arsenal, he added two more titles to his trophy cabinet after netting three goals in 203 games.
Clichy spent most of his time playing under Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini.
But he was around for the first season of Guardiola’s incredible City reign.
And Clichy has revealed the no-nonsense approach taken by the Spaniard to keep standards high.
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Guardiola arrived at City after winning six league titles and two Champions Leagues with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The tactician, who has since won five titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League at City, quickly imposed his authority.
And one rule for stunned players was that if they were two kilos over their target weight, they were not allowed to train.
Clichy told Marca: “If you weighed two kilos more than what he considered your maximum weight, you didn’t train.
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“In football, you always hear coaches say ‘if you’re overweight, you don’t train’.
“In the end, if it’s an important player, the norm is swept under the rug because they need that player.
“With Pep, if you were two kilos above the weight you should have after finishing the hard work and proper nutrition of the pre-season, you did not train.
“I saw players who did not train during two weeks.”
Reflecting on his short time with Guardiola, Clichy added: “My last year at City was Pep’s first.
“I player more games with him in one season than with any other coach. But I have opposite feelings about that year.
“I am grateful for what I learned under his direction but I would have liked it to have been more than one season.”
After leaving City in 2017, Clichy went on to play for Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir and Swiss outfit Sevette before retiring in October to become France U21 assistant boss.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
