Man City’s Guilty Verdict Puts Players in Awkward Position, But They’re Still Here to Win

“What do you want us to do?” was the response from manager Enzo Maresca after Man City beat Liverpool by three goals.

The club is dogged by a guilty verdict for orchestrated cheating. | Peter Byrne/PA Images/Getty Images

Rúben Dias revealed Manchester City players wanted to address the Premier League’s guilty verdict against the club “as soon as” the international break ended.

The initial reporting of the unreleased guilty verdict and the official Premier League statement that then followed—the latter detailing “sham” sponsorship contracts and sustained financial cheating over an almost decade-long period—was delivered while the majority of the players were away at national team camps dotted all over the world.

“When the news came out, we felt we should have a conversation as soon as we got back,” Dias explained as City prepare to host Paris Saint-Germain at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, the club’s first game back home since the verdict came out. Pep Guardiola will be there in support.

The center back said it was to ensure the whole squad is “on the same page and clear about our peace of mind.” He added: “We moved forward from there. It happened at a time when we weren’t together, but we quickly talked to each other, calmed down and moved on.”

It’s a messy situation, because while City continue to deny wrongdoing and fight what they claim to be an injustice based off of one “false accusation,” the soccer calendar continues apace. The verdict on the appeal has to be delivered before the end of January, but that isn’t necessarily where the process stops, potentially still dragging on a lot longer.

Dias and his teammates have to keep on playing throughout, which potentially makes a mockery of the Premier League when considering what the club has been found guilty of. Everything just feels very awkward the longer it isn’t definitively dealt with.

Many City fans have reveled in joyous defiance. A banner brought into the away section at Anfield read, “In Khaldoon [Al Mubarak] we trust,” in reference to the long-serving club chairman. Others chanted for Sheikh Mansour. There was even a repurposing of the popular Hull City chant—"You’re getting mauled by the [cheat]ahs”—sung in the second half.

At Anfield for Sky Sports on Sunday, broadcaster Gary Neville called it “difficult” to separate the quality that City are displaying on the pitch from the guilty verdict and what the club’s conduct—akin to financial doping to ensure artificially rapid growth that boosted spending power—has done to the English soccer landscape. “This is really bad for the Premier League.”

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Siege Mentality: Man City vs. the World

Rúben Dias faced reporters on Tuesday. | Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Dias suggested that the City team can do nothing but focus on playing (and winning) matches. But there is also an element of toeing the line with loyalty to the club’s hardline stance.

“We are very good at focusing on our work and being happy whenever we come to work. Our minds are only on that. These are the things we can control and that we have always enjoyed doing so much,” he said. “We have complete confidence in the club.”

There was criticism of the postgame celebrations after beating Liverpool so convincingly. “We won 3–0 at Anfield, what do you want us to do?” manager Enzo Maresca reflected. “We work every day to win games. It’s the only thing we can be focused on.”

The Italian suggested it is harder for the fans than it is the players or staff. Dias said it is “impossible to avoid everything” in terms of the outside noise.

He also claimed it is nothing different from things have been “because people don’t love that we win and we love to win. It’s a normal scenario, where there are people who aren’t happy about it because they have the same ambition.”

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