Erling Haaland hadn't trained with Manchester City for a week and his assessment of working under Pep Guardiola needed just one word - crazy.
When City players past and present are asked to describe Guardiola, they may not go as far as Haaland's headline-grabbing verdict, but they still use words like 'intense', 'obsessive', and 'genius.' Guardiola himself admits that he holds incredibly high standards, and the few insights we get into his training sessions suggest that those are maintained every single day.
City put four past Tottenham in January, but Guardiola made sure his players knew their attitude wasn't up to scratch. The turnaround since then has been admirable, yet you can be confident the intensity demanded by the manager has been maintained.
So why has he sanctioned a holiday break just before a week he describes himself as season-defining? ALSO READ: Rodri hits Man City milestone in Newcastle win that speaks volumes about Pep Guardiola squad From Saturday lunchtime after City beat Newcastle, the squad were given the best part of three days off to do whatever they wanted.