Pep Guardiola uses familiar tactic as Man City take advantage of Arsenal change

How did Manchester City respond to losing their first game of the season?

Was it double training sessions? Lung-busting runs? Rather, Pep Guardiola gave his squad two-and-a-half days off to do whatever they want and go wherever they wanted in the world.

City players returned to training on Wednesday afternoon refreshed from having some time away from their colleagues and place of work to enjoy some downtime. Kevin De Bruyne headed to Paris with his family to pick up third place at the Ballon d'Or, Manu Akanji headed back to Switzerland while Phil Foden headed to Manchester for a meal with his partner.

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One of Guardiola's most significant bits of man-management is to give his players time off whenever he personally can. It can lead to problems - such as when Sergio Aguero went to a concert in Amsterdam during some time off and then was involved in a car accident that sidelined him for six weeks - but the City manager has not dropped the policy.

He knows how exhausting it can be to have to be at 100 per cent under him for every moment, and how exhausting and gruelling the schedule can be where players end up seeing far more of their teammates than they do their families. While there are times when Guardiola will not allow any time off or will impose restrictions on what his players can do, there is nothing quite like the morale boost of a few days' holiday.

The amount of time City stars get off has been envied before by players at other clubs, and despite losing to Liverpool there was no change in the plan for this week. The postponement of the Arsenal fixture gave the Blues six days between games, so the manager gave his side effectively