Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes 40-man squads could be the only way to cope with the demands of the football calendar but says it would drive clubs to bankruptcy.
City are one of many sides, including Tottenham and Arsenal, to have been dogged by injuries this season, with defender Manuel Akanji the latest player to be sidelined following news of a season-ending hamstring injury to Kai Havertz.
Akanji is facing up to 10 weeks out after rupturing his abductor during Tuesday’s Champions League defeat to Real Madrid. Guardiola feels the injuries affecting so many sides are a direct consequence of football’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,” said Guardiola ahead of City’s Premier League clash with Newcastle on Saturday.
“You see the same at Tottenham, Arsenal right now, most teams except Liverpool that all the season has been so stable in those terms. Real Madrid as well. Many teams.
“It’s what happens when you accumulate season by season by season. It’s like what happened with Manu (Akanji), the body says, ‘it’s enough’.
“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 reducing the number of clubs in the Premier League might be a solution.
“It’s not going to happen that there are less Premier League games,” he said. “The Carabao Cup will continue.
“The only solution is to have 40 players in the squad. It’s impossible. Bankruptcy for the clubs. How do you sustain 40 salaries and the transfers? It’s impossible.”
Manuel Akanji suffered his injury against Real Madrid
Manchester City’s injury problems this season began with Rodri rupturing his anterior cruciate knee ligament in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September and have contributed to their poor campaign.
In addition to juggling their domestic and European commitments this season, they face the prospect of travelling to the United States to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup between June and July.
“It’s a big question mark,” Guardiola said when asked what kind of squad he would be able to take to that tournament.
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Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic expressed his frustration following their 3-2 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League
“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 analysis is so simple. The body speaks for itself, and says, ‘it’s enough’. You can say, ‘Give me heart!’ but the body says ‘no, no more, I need to rest, otherwise I will get injured.'”
Guardiola used Kevin De Bruyne as an example of a player struggling to manage the schedule.
“Kevin was one of the players who played the most games for eight or nine years, playing every three days and making an incredible effort with the distances, the physicality, running, attacking the channels with Fernandinho and Rodri passing to him.
Kevin De Bruyne’s minutes have had to be managed this season
“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 happens, I go to holidays, but the players go to the national team, to play a World Cup, or the new competition UEFA did in 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 points or win four in a row? I’m waiting…’
Guardiola was defiant on the subject of City’s struggles this year, insisting the record-breaking standards set by his side in previous years will be nigh-on impossible for any side to replicate as the level 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 said.
“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 points now, in modern football? I’m waiting. Or four [Premier Leagues] in a row? I’m waiting. 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’.
