For whatever reason, Pep Guardiola had decided enough was enough after Manchester City's victory over Arsenal.
Phil Foden and Aleks Zinchenko were not involved in the game because they have Covid, he told a broadcaster in a post-match interview. Rodri and Kyle Walker were only just back after Covid, he told another.
"We are struggling like all the teams in the world."
This wasn't just a departure on what he has previously said about absences, but was also different from what his own club were saying on the day. Zinchenko was described on the official website, along with John Stones, as "not fully fit" while Foden was described as "short of full fitness".
Guardiola did not mention Stones but for at least two of those three players a more accurate reason for their absence can be given as "required or advised to self-isolate for seven days in line".
Reporting on Covid is tricky. Each player that gets it has the right to request that it be kept private, since it is a confidential matter. The Premier League provides weekly updates on the number of new positive tests but will not provide specific details of clubs or individuals.
But different levels of transparency across clubs leads to suspicions of different standards, and the league have already been forced to reveal more than they intended, to ward off accusations about the integrity of the competition.
They are now providing update on the vaccination rates at the end of each month after that became a disputed issues around the many fixture cancellations, and have also given the specific guidance of the threshold for a game being called off. Before too long, they could even have to break down specific match postponements as clubs remain sceptical of just how bad the situations are.
The lack of trust or certainty, as each member of the Premier League looks after their own interests first, risks turning an ongoing pandemic into another points-scoring contest — even before getting into the partisan mindset that supporters can have.
City had given the impression that they had been relatively unaffected by Covid in the current state, with Kevin De Bruyne the only confirmed case since November and that happening while he was on international duty. That is entirely the right of the club and the players, yet it opened them up to talk of their relatively better situation during their match with Arsenal, as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was revealed to be the latest at Anfield to test positive and so miss their game with Chelsea on Sunday.
Thomas Tuchel has also complained about Covid cases impacting his squad and Chelsea had a request to postpone a game against Wolves turned down before Christmas.
Guardiola has at least acknowledged publicly a number of cases that City have been dealing with over the last few weeks. And as well as insisting that they 'have had many' this season, he put it in the broader picture of every team having had some. Some clubs will have more than others, and some are better equipped to deal with cases than others, but the idea that a disease sweeping through the country is swerving certain clubs is far-fetched.
Thanks to Guardiola, City's situation will be noted just like every other club, player or manager that have been transparent on the issue.
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