Harbinger Of Glory

At Manchester City’s training ground, the mood was considerably different from what much of the outside world had expected.

The club had brought the players in despite having a day less to recover than Arsenal and Wigan, and the decision had raised a few eyebrows.

Manchester City had been due to play a day after the Arsenal-Wigan game and had already gone through their match, leaving them with less time between fixtures and a demanding game of their own still ahead.

Ordinarily, that might have been enough for some of the discussion around the fixture to drift toward rotation and caution.

Instead, the talk had been about Wigan.

The club’s statement regarding Leo Calderon’s ankle had spread quickly, and with Fletcher also having taken a knock during training, there was already a growing feeling that Wigan would welcome Manchester City with a weakened side.

And perhaps, that it was time that they joined the rest of the teams in losing their unbeaten run.

From the outside, it was easy to put the pieces together.

City had more depth while Wigan had lost one of their most important players in Leo Calderon, as well as the doubt that had begun to linger around Fletcher’s availability.

The league leaders had finally been forced to give something up against Arsenal, and now they had to face another one of the division’s strongest sides.

There were, however, a few things working in Dawson’s favour.

O’Shea was available again after serving his one-match suspension, giving Wigan another option in defence.

Callum Lang had also returned from his injury and was back with the squad, providing another attacking outlet at a time when Fletcher’s condition remained uncertain, and Carlo Regutti was still out with a one-match ban.

It was hardly enough to erase the questions surrounding them.

But it was enough to keep Dawson from having to rebuild his team from scratch.

And at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola was making sure nobody mistook that for a reason to relax.

The players had gathered around him at the training centre, still in their training gear, with the noise of the session having died down around them.

Guardiola stood in front of the group with his hands moving constantly as he spoke, occasionally pointing at one player before turning his attention to another.

”I know what is being said,” he told them.

”I know what everybody is saying about the game we have next.

Wigan have played another difficult game. They have finally dropped points.”

”But why do we care?”

”That means nothing to us.”

Guardiola took a few steps across the edge of the group.

”If we start thinking the game is easy because of what happened yesterday, we will be punished. If we think they are weaker because one player is missing, we will be punished. If we think they are tired, we will be punished because we might be more tired than them.”

His voice had risen slightly by the final sentence, and that got the players more interested in what he had to say.

”You want to relax because people outside are already telling you that you should win? Fine. Relax in the hotel. Relax after the game. But when we step onto that pitch, I want professionalism.”

Rodri stood near the front of the group, listening without moving.

Haaland was beside him, arms resting loosely across his chest, while Bernardo Silva, Foden and several others remained equally quiet.

Ederson stood a little farther back, watching Guardiola as closely as the rest and although it was slight, the players couldn’t help but stiffen as Pep stared at them keenly.

”Not one team has beaten them.”

”Not one,” he said, holding up a finger.

”And it is not luck.”

”They have played fourteen games. Fourteen. Every team that has faced them has had the opportunity to beat them, and nobody has done it.”

He shook his head.

”Yesterday they almost made it 15 games without dropping points, but we all know they were better than Arsenal, and remember that it was Arsenal we lost to a while back.”

”When I hear people waiting for Wigan to prove themselves, waiting for the moment they finally lose, I don’t understand it.”

”They are sitting ducks,” Guardiola continued. ”They are waiting for something to happen because they have already decided what they want to see. They are narrow-minded. They need Wigan to fail so they can explain everything they have seen.”

”They are coping. That is what they are doing.”

”But we are not doing that.”

Pep pointed toward the pitch behind them.

”We don’t wait for the result to tell us what the game should have been. We’ve already stumbled a lot just early into the season. We need to turn on the afterburners and blow past the other teams.”

”And to do that, I am not leaving anything up to chance.”

His eyes moved from one player to the next before he finally put his hands down.

”Tomorrow, I need everyone on the same page, right from the start, because if we don’t, we might have a problem.”

”I need you to be with me,” he said, and to that, the response was mostly a collection of nods.

Rodri gave one of the clearest, and so did Bernardo Silva.

”That’s enough for today. You can go now,” he finally said, and at that, the players began to separate, conversations returning almost immediately as they collected bottles and made their way toward the building.

Rodri pushed himself upright and stretched his legs before looking toward Haaland.

”I would have liked to play against that kid.”

Haaland, who had been sitting beside him, gave a short snort as he stood up.

”Calderon?”

Rodri nodded.

”Yeah.”

Haaland picked up his things and then eyed Rodri.

”Take the easy win and move on.”

Rodri looked at him.

”The easy win?”

”That’s what everyone says, isn’t it?”

Haaland started walking as Rodri followed, shaking his head.

”You didn’t play against them in the FA Cup final.”

Haaland glanced back.

”You don’t know how difficult that game was.”

Haaland stopped for half a second, looking at him over his shoulder.

”I know we won,” Rodri said, to which Haaland smirked before he continued toward the building, leaving Rodri to follow after him.