City trip away can recharge title push

SOMETIMES it is just nice to get away. The mood on the plane to Saudi Arabia may not have been terrific last month as City headed out for the Club World Cup immediately after a late collapse against Crystal Palace, yet the change of scenery did them the world of good. After winning their fifth major trophy in 2023, the players began talking about how to beat Everton after Christmas on the plane home and are now on a run of six straight wins in all competitions.

- SIMON BAJKOWSKI

The sun may well have streamed into Pep Guardiola's home in Manchester this week but he will cherish the extra 20 degrees that Abu Dhabi has when the Blues left yesterday for a week of warm-weather training.

What he will enjoy even more is the chance to be out on the grass with his players doing what he loves the most but rarely gets to do: train them.

Most of City's title wins have had a striking tactical element behind their success honed on the training ground that may not have yielded immediate results but proved irrepressible once it clicked. Having transformed the team in 2017, inverted full-backs gave way to a roaming Joao Cancelo with a false nine before the John Stones role in an aggressive backline helped them to the Treble last season.