Pep Guardiola blames social media for creating friction between players and managers

The City boss has previously told Benjamin Mendy to focus less on social media and more on football

Pep Guardiola believes that social media is the biggest difference between man management in his own playing days and the headaches facing today’s high-profile managers.

In the week that Jose Mourinho and Paul Pogba’s relationship across the city with United became even more fractured, Guardiola revealed he has reprimanded his own French World Cup squad member, Benjamin Mendy.

The full-back, who has missed City’s last four games with a bruised metatarsal and will be absent for the weekend game against Brighton, arrived three hours late for treatment last Sunday.

Yet hours earlier, late on Saturday, the extrovert fans’ favourite was posting photos on social media of him attending Anthony Joshua’s world title fight at Wembley.

Obviously, Guardiola’s relationship with his star is nowhere near as troubled as that between Pogba and Mourinho.

But, with Guardiola already having suggested this season that Mendy should quieten down his presence on social media, that issue is clearly one he believes is problematic in the modern game.

“The characters are quite similar or the same,” he said. “Competitors are competitors. Nice guys are nice guys. The egos are the same.

“The only difference is social media. Now it’s more popular. Before, nobody knew what the players did inside the locker room or outside. Now everybody knows everything.

“Years ago they were human beings, they are human beings now too. With fears and good things and bad things. So it’s quite similar. Now the media are more involved.

“Ten years ago nobody expected to make a documentary about what happened inside the locker room and now we made a documentary about what happened inside the locker room.

“Now everybody outside knows what happens inside, so we have to adapt. Human beings are the same. It was the same before.”

Despite the questionable wisdom of a player with a foot injury travelling to London to attend a sporting event, Guardiola insisted he had no problem with Mendy’s choice to attend the boxing bout.

But the City manager has clearly been left frustrated by Mendy’s latest injury, after the defender missed nearly the whole of last season after knee ligament surgery, and confesses he does not know when he will be available.

“I don’t know (when he will return),” said Guardiola. “I think soon, but I don’t know.

“When a guy comes here and is injured for seven months or arrives here and plays two or three games and after one month is injured it’s always a problem.

“It’s always a problem to be involved in the way we want to play and the meetings and correcting mistakes. That’s why it’s so important. Hopefully this injury can be the last.”

Still, Mendy has been told, in no uncertain terms, that arriving late for training is unacceptable by the City manager.

“The players should be here and he knows it. I spoke with him,” said Guardiola.

“I’m unhappy at every player arriving late. They have to be on time. Normally when you arrive on time you arrive on time in the game.

“At the high level when you arrive late you arrive late in the game.

“I have no problem (going to London). Boxing is so important in England. In Spain nobody cares.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola confirmed he would like to see club captain Vincent Kompany, who was this week awarded a testimonial the proceeds of which he will donate to a homeless charity, awarded a new contract when his current one expires in June.

Kompany is in talks over a testimonial match to be played in August and Guardiola said: “Yes, that is my wish.

“Hats off! Ten years is a lot. It’s incredible. He played the Carabao Cup this week like it’s the final of the Champions League. That means a lot to me. If he plays five minutes then they are going to be the brst five minutes in his life.”