New Delhi: Manchester City’s star striker, Erling Haaland, is the latest voice to raise concerns over the tight schedule, with the footballers playing over time and may not remain ‘sharp’ if the burden is not lessened anytime soon. Last year, quite a few players from Manchester City played 70 games, with the English midfielder being included in 77 matchday squads and making 72 appearances. Argentina’s Julian Alvarez was part of 78 matchday squads and made 71 appearances.
Haaland has been able to rest during the summer after Norway failed to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2024. The 24-year-old noted during the pre-season tour in New York that footballers were overworked and that there were too many games in close intervals. He further noted that while some players will get breaks at the start of the season, most players will reach a level of fatigue by the time the season ends.
Erling Haaland: “I don’t think we can be sharp in every single game, we can try, but it’s difficult to be sharp if you’re playing over 70 games every single year… [Too much football?] What do you think? I love to play…”
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 26, 2024
City are on a strong run, having won their fourth consecutive Premier League title this season. They missed winning the Champions League trophy after a shootout defeat in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Real Madrid. When asked if he felt the club was missing anything, the Norway striker said that the team didn’t lack any key element, and they have been strong over the last few years, having won four Premier Leagues and one Champions League as well.
The concerns over the star players have been going around for a while as the 2024-25 season will have many more games as the UEFA Champion League will be expanded and the FIFA Club World Cup will be played in a new 32-team format. The City were back on the training ground on July 15, 2024, and the Club World Cup final is scheduled on July 13, 2025. The 2025-26 campaign will begin within a month and leaves very little space for rest for top players in a calendar.
Pep Guardiola, in support of resting his players, had previously said that his club stars who were in national team tournaments have free will to choose their rest period and will return once they feel they adequately rested after the tight 2023-24 schedule. Guardiola did mention that while he had liked for players like Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, and Kyle Walker to be on the club’s US, he felt they needed to rest before they made another appearance. He further mentioned that whilst their wait was much awaited for both the team and their fans, it would have been hard for them to arrive and perform immediately after such an arduous season.
NORTH CAROLINA, USA – JULY 23: Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola during a pre-season friendly match between Manchester City and Celtic at Kenan Stadium, on July 23, 2024, in North Carolina, USA. (Photo by Ross MacDonald/SNS Group via Getty Images)
In another 12 days, City will play Manchester United in the Community Shield before starting their Premier League season with their first game against Chelsea a week later. This is what prompted Guardiola to rest his key players. He noted that the star players would need to come back with a fresh mind and didn’t want them to train whilst battling exhaustion. According to him players ideally require three weeks to a month in rest but with competitions in so little space of time, players would have to adapt quickly.
The European Leagues organisation and FIFPRO Europe recently announced that they will file a joint complaint to the European Commission after FIFA breaches competition law. The statement comes after FIFA announced that they had decided to revamp the FIFA Club World Cup, which will take place in the United States during June and July 2025 and will feature 32 clubs, replacing the six teams from six federations played mid-season. The FIFPRO Europe member unions’ legal claim challenged FIFA’s decision to unilaterally set the international match calendar and the decision to create and schedule the Club World Cup.
The statement continued that since FIFA refuses to include national leagues and players’s unions in their decision-making, the only solution remained for the parties to take legal action. The latest introduction of the World Club Cup has stirred concerns from everyone as it hampers the scheduling of already packed domestic, continental, and international games.
Erling Haaland’s statement comes after FIFA announced a renewed World Club Cup which will now feature 32 teams instead of six teams. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
