Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has urged players all over the world to protest the strain that an ever-busier football schedule is having on their health.
The debate over player safety had already been sparked by the introduction of the mid-season World Cup the previous year.
Players now play more football than ever before and seem to be experiencing physical strain as a result.
The likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United are among the Premier League teams missing a sizable portion of their squads due to injury, but the trend is evident all over the world. Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao of Real Madrid both suffered ACL tears during the summer, and in recent years, the same injury has been a serious threat to women’s football.
Guardiola has now urged players to pay attention to the actions of the Spanish women’s team, who fought back against their own federation in search of better working conditions and the removal of former president Luis Rubiales.
Repeated requests for assistance from the authorities have a tendency to go unanswered.
There is only one way to change something, Guardiola said.
“Perhaps if all the players decide for themselves to say, ‘Stop,’ then you have to change something.”.
And after that, maybe UEFA and FIFA will respond a little.
“The show must go on in this business.
Keep going even if Pep isn’t there, but the show won’t go on without the players. But if they decide, that is up to them.
“.
“Look at Spain’s women’s team; the players decided to change something, and they did so,” he continued.
Because the players decided they had something inside them to safeguard both themselves and the teams’ future for future generations, they made a change.
That is the greatest legacy.
I’m not sure if it will be done in men’s world football, but the women’s teams in Spain did it.
“.
United manager Erik ten Hag acknowledged that his team’s players simply cannot handle the strain being placed on their bodies from the other side of Manchester.
“We already increased the squad this season because we were clear about the reason. We had a longer season because of the World Cup, and we had to play a longer season because of the FA Cup.
A shorter break,” he said.
“Every time the schedule gets busier, the players are overloaded to an extreme degree.
Both my own and many of my colleagues’ points have been made in this regard.
However, it never ends.
The schedule is continually being expanded.
It will continue wherever it is.
Players can’t handle the overload any longer, and I believe that’s what everyone in this squad is saying right now.
“.
Following Burnley manager Vincent Kompany’s suggestion to implement a cap on the number of games a player can play in a single season, the pair made their remarks.
“It should be capped at appearances within a season for the players at the top who have to play for their national teams and all of these other competitions.
“, the Belgian countered.
“Stamp it with a number.
It’s not up to me to quantify it, but there are 60 or 65 games.
Don’t get me wrong, they still need to put in a lot of effort, but 60 games take a toll.
“.
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