Pep Guardiola: Man Metropolis boss says 40-man squads wanted to deal with schedule however golf equipment would go bankrupt

Manchester Metropolis supervisor Pep Guardiola believes 40-man squads could possibly be the one manner to deal with the calls for of the soccer calendar however says it will drive golf equipment to chapter.

Metropolis are one in every of many sides, together with Tottenham and Arsenal, to have been dogged by accidents this season, with defender Manuel Akanji the most recent participant to be sidelined following information of a season-ending hamstring harm to Kai Havertz.

Akanji is going through as much as 10 weeks out after rupturing his abductor throughout Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Actual Madrid. Guardiola feels the accidents affecting so many sides are a direct consequence of soccer’s ever-expanding schedule.

“I always expect injuries during the season. Not as much as we’ve had, but it’s not just a problem for Man City,” mentioned Guardiola forward of Metropolis’s Premier League conflict with Newcastle on Saturday.

“You see the identical at Tottenham, Arsenal proper now, most groups besides Liverpool that every one the season has been so steady in these phrases. Actual Madrid as properly. Many groups.

“It is what occurs if you accumulate season by season by season. It is like what occurred with Manu (Akanji), the physique says, ‘it is sufficient’.

“The solution to prevent that? I think Jurgen Klopp and myself have said it in the past. It is the calendar. I don’t see another reason why there are a lot of injuries.”

Guardiola dismissed the suggestion that decreasing the variety of golf equipment within the Premier League is perhaps an answer.

“It’s not going to happen that there are less Premier League games,” he mentioned. “The Carabao Cup will continue.

“The one answer is to have 40 gamers within the squad. It is unimaginable. Chapter for the golf equipment. How do you maintain 40 salaries and the transfers? It is unimaginable.”

Manchester Metropolis’s harm issues this season started with Rodri rupturing his anterior cruciate knee ligament of their 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September and have contributed to their poor marketing campaign.

Along with juggling their home and European commitments this season, they face the prospect of travelling to the US to compete within the FIFA Membership World Cup between June and July.

“It’s a big question mark,” Guardiola mentioned when requested what sort of squad he would have the ability to take to that event.

“I would like to give you an answer but I don’t know. A big question mark but I would say not a positive feeling, because we are in the position that we are, like many, many clubs.

“My evaluation is so easy. The physique speaks for itself, and says, ‘it is sufficient’. You’ll be able to say, ‘Give me coronary heart!’ however the physique says ‘no, no extra, I must relaxation, in any other case I’ll get injured.'”

Guardiola used Kevin De Bruyne as an example of a player struggling to manage the schedule.

“Kevin was one of many gamers who performed essentially the most video games for eight or 9 years, taking part in each three days and making an unimaginable effort with the distances, the physicality, working, attacking the channels with Fernandinho and Rodri passing to him.

“He could do it, but now he’s [33] years old and he’s coming from a five-month injury last season. It’s not the same. Why? Because the body was injured for five months.

“When that occurs, I am going to holidays, however the gamers go to the nationwide crew, to play a World Cup, or the brand new competitors UEFA did within the season [the UEFA Nations League].

“It’s not about the managers or the physios. It’s just the amount of games. The bodies say, ‘I’m tired.'”

‘Who will get 100 factors or win 4 in a row? I am ready…’

Guardiola was defiant as regards to Metropolis’s struggles this yr, insisting the record-breaking requirements set by his facet in earlier years might be nigh-on unimaginable for any facet to duplicate as the extent of the Premier League continues to go up.

“What I have said many times to the players and the club is that in nine years we have only had three really, really bad months,” he mentioned.

“So when people say, ‘ah Pep, what happened?’ I say, ‘no, no, what has happened!’ That is the problem. That is not normal. Not now or in the past.

“Who will do 100 factors now, in trendy soccer? I am ready. Or 4 [Premier Leagues] in a row? I am ready. With Bournemouth, with Fulham, with Wolves…

“I asked Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] yesterday, ‘two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and now you come back here one year. Did something change in the Premier League?’ He said, ‘massively’.

“I said, ‘it was different in just one year?’ And he said, ‘unbelievable’. And it’s true, the teams are much, much better in all departments. The people prepare so well because we dictate the standards.

“Have you ever seen Liverpool this season? They can’t do 100 factors already. Ninety-nine however not 100. And have a look at the season they’ve accomplished.

“It’s not an argument to defend what we have done in the last three months. Many things happened. But it puts it in perspective.

“What we did up to now isn’t repeatable. It is going to be so tough to be that constant for a lot of, a few years and now we realise that. I might count on a drop, however not as a lot as now.

“It’s the reality. We have to accept it. We have to accept the criticisms and the bad moments. What can you do? Cry? Complain? No. It is what it is. We are not good enough.

“After we have been 1-0 or 2-0 up to now, the opponents weren’t even shut; not in our field, on the midway line. Now, we aren’t good with that. We take dangers and make errors that aren’t regular for this crew. But it surely’s occurred.

“We are in the position we are in because we are not good enough. If Madrid recover from the two goals we give away, it’s because we are not good enough. Accept it and go forwards.”