“The guys who don’t play much” – Pep Guardiola admits to morale split in Manchester City dressing room

Guardiola: The guys who don’t play much are not as happy

Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Guardiola offered a candid assessment of the mood across his squad heading into the semi-final.

“They are happy. The guys who don’t play much are not as happy as they must be,” he said. “And now just focus on the game tomorrow, with the selection, the spirit, how we’ve recovered players from the last two incredibly demanding games.”

The admission is a characteristically honest one from Guardiola, who has never been inclined to paint an artificially rosy picture of life on the fringes of a squad competing on multiple fronts.

The challenge of keeping every player engaged and motivated during a run-in of this intensity is one he has navigated successfully many times before – and Saturday’s semi-final offers those players a genuine stage.

City won the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley in March and are now one game from a return to the national stadium for a second cup final of the campaign.

A domestic treble – the Carabao Cup already secured, the Premier League title race alive and the FA Cup within reach – remains the target for City and Guardiola will be leaning on the full depth of his squad to achieve it.

Manchester City vs Southampton (FA Cup Semi-Final): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch

What is at stake for City at Wembley?

Saturday’s semi-final against a Southampton side in the EFL Championship represents, on paper, the most straightforward hurdle remaining between City and a domestic treble.

Yet Guardiola will be acutely aware of the dangers of underestimating the Saints and the peculiar nature of Wembley knockout football, where context rarely matters once the whistle blows.

City’s squad depth will be tested across the coming weeks in a way that few clubs could sustain. Four Premier League games follow in the weeks ahead alongside a potential FA Cup final, with the title race against Arsenal likely going to the wire.

The players Guardiola alluded to on Friday – those not as happy as they should be – will need to be ready to contribute across all of it.

Guardiola has spoken consistently throughout the campaign about the importance of the collective over the individual – and Saturday offers those on the fringes the chance to make themselves impossible to leave out for the games that follow.

For City, reaching a second Wembley final this season would represent another landmark moment in what is shaping up to be a historic campaign – and would deliver a further boost of momentum heading into the most consequential run of Premier League fixtures in the club’s recent memory.