FIFA and UEFA at war with Guardiola? Manchester City coach slams overworking players: if they don’t rebel, nothing will change

Manchester City won the European Super Cup for the first time in the club’s history on Wednesday and coach Pep Guardiola can now enjoy another valuable trophy. However, his good mood is spoiled by an unpleasant complication when he has to do without one of his biggest stars for a long time. He puts the blame mainly on the football authorities UEFA and FIFA, and takes a swipe at them.

Even a second treble in his coaching career has not satisfied him. Pep Guardiola is still hungry for success and trophies. But this season will be complicated from the start. Kevin De Bruyne was injured in his first competitive game.

One of the main driving forces of the Citizens under the Catalan strategist will be missing for a long time, he has to undergo an operation and it is a big problem for Manchester City. Even without him, however, the English club managed to make it through the first round of the Premier League and win the European Super Cup.

However, just before the Super Cup, Guardiola spoke in an interview with Movistar about the current situation and took a rather harsh swipe at football authorities FIFA and UEFA.

The Manchester City coach is one of those people who speak up when they don’t like something and when they see a flaw in something. He has currently embarked on a rule change that places ever greater demands on footballers.

“It’s a ho**o. Kevin is a key player for us, we’re going to lose him for a few months. He has a special connection with Erling Haaland, but there is nothing we can do,” Guardiola, who was quoted by Marca, did not hide his anger.

Among other things, the Barcelona legend recalls that when he started his coaching career, the preparation time between seasons was much longer: “I had 25 days to prepare, now they give you four or five days and then look how many players have torn anterior cruciate ligaments in their knee.”

“They make you go to Asia, the US, play tough games, derbies, big games. But players are dropping out and will continue to drop out because the show must go on. If Thibatu Courtois is not there, someone else will be. If there is no Eder Militao or De Bruyne, there will be other players. This is a losing battle if the players don’t stand up for themselves and say they won’t play,” Guardiola added.

In doing so, the Manchester City coach also leaned on the serious injuries to two key Real Madrid players. It is worth noting, then, that it is De Bruyne who has long been one of the critics of increasingly demanding programmes for footballers.

In the new season, the emphasis is on playing more net time and setting extra time for every moment not played. So the average length of a game will increase again.

Source: Marca, UEFA