Kyle Walker disagrees with Man City boss Pep Guardiola over schedule suggestion
The current Manchester City captain was hesitant to agree that it is now on players to try and enforce changes in the congested football calendar.
Kyle Walker says it is not up to him to rewrite the hectic football schedule, despite Pep Guardiola’s suggestion that players
should speak up about the increasing workload.The Manchester City boss suggested last month that the only way change can be enacted is if the stars of the game take a stand against UEFA and FIFA for continually adding more games into the calendar.
From next season, the Champions League group stages will contain 10 group games and an extra knockout play-off round while the Club World Cup will expand to 32 teams in 2025.
Furthermore, the 2026 World Cup is set to grow to 48 teams meaning more fixtures will be played.”I would say every idea to reduce the amount of games for the players would be nice. There isn’t going to be change,” said Guardiola. “There is only one solution: if the players decide for themselves.”To say the organisations to stop, you have to change something.
After the statements, maybe FIFA and UEFA will react. Say no, no, we don’t take a step forward unless we change something to the federations.”
We’ve got used to it [the schedule] over a number of years, especially at club level playing every three to four days,” he said. “Your body adapts to it. It’s not up to me to rewrite the rules on when football is and isn’t going to be played.
“I have a job to do, whether that’s for my club or country. To turn up and play the games I’m chosen to play. I can’t comment on whether it’s right or wrong. When I’m fit and available to play I’ll give it my all.
“The more you play, the more risk of injuries – especially with more added-on minutes in the Premier League. I don’t think it’s for me to start commenting on or questioning, I just have to get on with it. We play the games and we don’t complain, we just keep moving forward.”
England boss Southgate hailed modern science for enabling footballers to play so often but said he was mindful of the impact the heavy calendar may have, saying: “We don’t really have a winter break here. We fudge something.
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