Pep Guardiola predicted John Stones problem with Man City warning

If Pep Guardiola talks about an international break, he often says the same thing.

He will bemoan the amount of games his Manchester City players must play, accept that they want to play for their countries, and express hope that none of them pick up any injuries. This season, more than most, the topic of player welfare on international duty has been a talking point, with the World Cup approaching that will put the Premier League on hold for six weeks.

Guardiola even said earlier this season that national teams won't take clubs into account when playing their best players, so he won't consider the national teams when making his own selections. It's an uneasy arrangement that underlines his long-held stance that players are playing too many games; but with so much pressure to win, he has no choice but to play his strongest team at any point.

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In doing so, he accepts that national team managers will do the same thing. Norway's manager Stale Solbakken was asked last week if he would limit Erling Haaland's game time over the current international break, to which he replied with a pretty emphatic 'no'.

"At least it is absolutely certain," he said when asked if he would lean heavily on Haaland, adding: "I was a bit worried when I saw the last game against Wolverhampton, when he ran around like a fool at 3-0 to make it 4-0. He yells and slaps god and every man because he doesn't get the ball. I screamed 'calm down, Erling, there are more important games to come.'"

Those sorts of comments support Guardiola's belief that there is no point relying on national teams to rest players for the benefit of their club seasons. It's why he always refers to a