It was hard to argue Pep Guardiola was wrong. The amount of professional football played at the very elite level since the start of the 2022/23 season has been astonishing, bordering on unprecedented.
The reasons are extensive. The winter World Cup in Qatar, the creation of UEFA’s Nations League and City’s participation in the Club World Cup have all contributed to a sense of overkill. It is causing fatigue among players and the scariest bit is there’s worse to come.
An expanded Champions League, a 48-team World Cup, you know the drill. Scrapping FA Cup replays? That won’t even scratch the surface of trying to reduce City players’ workload.
The nucleus of Guardiola’s argument, speaking in the aftermath of City’s fortunate 1-0 win over Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday, was more granular and less systematic. His gripe was with the semi-final schedulers who ignored the fact City played a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The fact City’s tie with Los Blancos went to extra-time and penalties exacerbated the situation. And City did look leggy at Wembley, struggling to maintain their usual tempo and control as Chelsea set the pace.
“It’s unacceptable to let us play today,” said Guardiola, relieved that his players somehow scraped through. “It’s impossible, for the health of the players. It’s not normal. It’s unacceptable. 120 minutes, the emotions of Madrid, the way we lose, honestly.
“I know in this country [the FA Cup] is special but it’s for the health of the players. I don’t understand how we survived. Why don’t we play tomorrow? Chelsea, Manchester United, Coventry didn’t play midweek.”
Guardiola was undoubtedly correct, but he could have actually gone a lot further with his complaints at modern day scheduling. He name-checked a couple of players who he believed found it ‘mentally so tough to recover’ for the Chelsea game, saying he was baffled how the likes of Rodri and Kyle Walker survived the most arduous of weeks. Never mind the past week, what about the past couple of seasons?
Rodri is a fascinating case study. The Spaniard is a pillar of the City midfield, they rarely lose when he starts so when he’s fit he plays. Since August 2022 Rodri has played 118 games. If he features in City’s final six games of the season and Spain’s maximum of eight games at Euro 2024, that will mean an incredible 132 matches in less than two years.
Phil Foden has already notched 56 appearances this season which puts him on 114 games in the same period – a potential 128 if England make the Euros final and he plays all the matches. Bernardo Silva could eclipse both of them. He’s on on 120 appearances for the past two seasons and could reach 134. Meanwhile, Walker has made 97 appearances and Ruben Dias 103.
In short, all teams have played a lot in the past two seasons but City even more than most, given they tend to reach the sharp end of competitions (that contain two-legged ties) and they also competed in the Club World Cup.
Guardiola, who prefers to operate with a smaller squad, has worked something approaching a miracle to balance City’s priorities, keep his team in multiple priorities – winning most of the trophies on offer. Squad rotation has been vital for him.
A nod, too, to City’s medical and fitness staff, who have kept injuries to a minimum in a season that’s been beset by injury crises across the Premier League and beyond. Yet something even more testing lurks around the corner.
