Pep Guardiola says there's 'no solution' to fixture congestion as Erling Haaland raises concerns
Erling Haaland has become the latest high-profile player to speak out against the busy fixture schedule, but Pep Guardiola has admitted there is no solution to the problem
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made a point blank declaration that there's "no solution" to the relentless football calendar that top-tier teams like his confront after Erling Haaland aired his concerns in preseason.
As they got off to a rocky start in their US tour, losing against both Celtic and AC Milan, City are left short-handed, fielding only five senior players on Saturday night in New York, a dilemma brought on by this summer's slew of international competitions.
The intensity of the game schedule is a recipe for player burnout, with elite squads facing the potential of 70 matches if they progress through all tournaments, stirring discontent among various players and managers. Post-match on Friday, it was Haaland echoing the sentiment about the difficulties of keeping on top form.
After City's narrow defeat to Milan on Saturday, Mirror Sports US quizzed Guardiola on whether he sees any end in sight to the problem. The boss owned up to the grim reality: "impossible" to amend.
"No there's no solution. There's no intention to the solution," admitted Guardiola as he addressed the press following the weekend's action. "The clubs have to travel to make our brand around the world and see our players in other continents. That's just what it is, we have to adapt."
Guardiola didn't mince his words, adding, "It's not just this season, it's happened for five, six, seven years so every time is the same. We'd like to have preparations properly but it's impossible. With the Euros they deserve to play, the national teams they deserve to play.
"FIFA, UEFA, and a lot of other competitions want to defend their product so they make games, so this is what we have to do. But, we have a good squad when they come back and we have five interesting (first-team) players just in case we need them (during preseason)."
"Having the same calendar like this year. It is what it is and we have to adapt." It's almost unheard of for City to lose twice within a week, but the majority of its first-team players are still on an extended summer break due to Euro 2024 and Copa America.
For all the latest on news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US .
Haaland is looking sharp after scoring against both Celtic and Milan, but his nation Norway did not qualify for Euro 2024 this summer. Haaland has many friends and teammates who did qualify with their respective nations and shared his concerns ahead of the upcoming season that they could be fatigued.
"We all saw in the Euros as well in general how tired people were. You could see the level, you could see even in people's faces how tired they were of football if you can say it that way," Haaland said on Friday.
"That's how it will be as well this season, not in the start, though maybe for some because some will not get a lot of vacation. But that's the way we're going now, I don't think we can be sharp in every single game. We can try, but it's difficult to be sharp if you play over 70 games a year."
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