Football
Pep Guardiola Lambasts Manchester City’s Jam-Packed Schedule After Seeing Fixture Request Denied
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Pep Guardiola has hit out at Manchester City’s fixture list after having a scheduling request denied by Manchester Police.
Guardiola Left Irritated by Chaotic Manchester City Fixture List
Manchester City and Pep Guardiola are certainly no strangers to strenuous scheduling – last season they featured in 59 games.
Of course, there are few squads in world football better equipped to deal with a bloated fixture list, but Guardiola has taken aim at what he believes is an unsustainable concentration of games.
City are scheduled to face Arsenal on September 22nd in a fascinating early-season clash between last season’s chief title contenders.
This is closely followed by a third round Carabao Cup tie just two days later against Watford.
The club initially asked the fixture to be moved a day later in order to have three days rest; a request that was denied by Manchester Police due to neighbours United facing FC Twente in the Europa League.
It now means Guardiola’s side face a gruelling four matches in 10 days – which includes consecutive matches against Inter Milan and Arsenal – starting with Brentford on matchday four.
Manchester City’s upcoming fixtures are 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐔𝐒! 🤯
4 games in 10 days, 7 games in 3 weeks. pic.twitter.com/mAccED4bHz
— The Unfiltered Football Podcast (@football_t95805) September 12, 2024
“They gave us an alternative [to play at Watford on Wednesday], to have more days. But we have a Saturday game in Newcastle and we prioritise, of course, to have more rest for Newcastle,” said the Manchester City manager.
“So we’re going to play on Tuesday, because we couldn’t play on Wednesday, when it should be, because United play in the Europa League and the police won’t accept it.”
The Spaniard continued by expressing his concerns over a seemingly untenable season schedule, and its impact on player welfare.
“It’s going to happen more and more. It’s impossible to fix all the schedules and calendars. People say that players and managers, with the money, shouldn’t complain, but it’s not about that, it’s about their health.
“We will do our job anyway – with this salary or less salary – because we love to do it, but we play Arsenal on Sunday – not an easy game I would say – and two days later we have to do it against Watford.