De Bruyne plays Candy Crush and Grealish’s dog, but no internal arguments: what can and cannot be seen in Netflix documentary about Man City

You don’t have to look for major state secrets. A six-part documentary about Manchester City’s historic treble season is available on Netflix from today. Between sporting highlights and dressing room speeches, viewers are introduced to the zen of Haaland, Grealish’s dog and De Bruyne’s games. A romanticized image of a year in which the harsh altercations effectively remain behind the scenes.

LOOK. The trailer of the City documentary

The happiness tree

After a goal he sometimes dares to sit in the lotus position. Erling Haaland has a soft spot for yoga. And he also appears to be fond of bonsai trees, as he proves in the documentary. Last season he insisted on placing a tree in the massage room at City’s training complex. He sometimes gets a steam bath, on the advice of the Norwegian Spitz.

Haaland: “The bonsai tree likes a humid environment, so I thought I would bring it to work. To get some moisture in it. I feel responsible for the tree. For the water and food. I even bought special plant food for it. We draw the energy from the bonsai tree. And they try to bring it into the body. The tree brings us luck.”

Haaland with the bonsai. © Netflix

De Bruyne’s Candy Crush

Kevin De Bruyne maintains his cool throughout. Also for a match. The City dressing room is often a madhouse before a match, with players chatting, but the Red Devil is usually in his own world. Wearing large headphones, he retreats to a corner, strumming on his phone. The image clearly shows that he is playing Candy Crush, a game that was extremely popular ten years ago.

De Bruyne: “I play games before the match, talk to people. I’m just chilling. About ten minutes before we go outside to warm up, I start getting changed. I don’t like waiting. If I have to wait too long, I get irritated.”

De Bruyne plays Candy Crush before the match. © Netflix

Grealish’s big message

Some at Man City’s training complex are reluctant to see Jacky Grealish come. Or not his dog. Grealish says his dog, Skye, enjoys running on City’s training pitches. He and his girlfriend Sacha still live in the city at the time of the recordings. And the dog doesn’t have enough space to burn off its energy. So the two of them head to the Etihad Campus to walk Skye.

Grealish: “I’ve taken her to the club a few times. And you know what, she did her big message in the middle of the field.”

What you don’t get to see?

City’s internal production shot the documentary. What the viewer sees is a cleaned up version of the successful season. Anyone who is somewhat familiar with the ins and outs of the club will miss some (important) passages.

For example, the argument between Pep Guardiola and winger João Cancelo is not discussed in detail. During one of the team talks, in which he felt he would not play, he reportedly ostentatiously inserted two earphones. Cancelo was abruptly put aside and loaned to Barcelona.

Also Mark’s dismissalCarlos‘ Sentori, a popular physiotherapist, turned the dressing room upside down. At a team dinner in February, organized by the players, Guardiola then tried to get his divided group back on track. “You have to behave like a rock again, otherwise you won’t win anything this season. And you will regret that for the rest of your life.”

An angry De Bruyne’s infamous shout at Guardiola during the match against Real Madrid – ‘shut up, shut up’ – did not make the final cut either. Just like the discussions between the coach and England international Kalvin Phillips about his obesity after the World Cup.

In episode three, there is a brief reference to City’s 115 alleged breaches of the Financial Fair Play rules between 2009 and 2018. If City are found guilty, they could face a points deduction and, in the worst case, exclusion from the Premier League.