Pep Guardiola injury comments had me asking Leicester City question after Liverpool decision

Fixture congestion has been a topic that managers have talked about over the last few years, especially when it comes to injuries, and Leicester City, along with their Championship rivals, probably have more of a right than them to moan.

The current schedule in England includes the Premier League, Carabao Cup, the FA Cup and any European games that clubs are involved with. Added into that the mid-season World Cup, plus any other international games and there is a lot of minutes in the legs for players.

It’s an issue that has been raised by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag this week. “We had a World Cup in the middle of the season; we had a longer season; we had to play a longer season as well, with FA Cup, then Nations League games. A shorter break,” he said.

“Every time the schedule is expanding, the load on the players is too much. It’s such a great overload.

“Many colleagues of mine have pointed to that and I have pointed to that as well. But it keeps going. We keep expanding the schedule. Players can’t deal any more with this overload and that’s what you see in this squad at the moment.”

United currently have eight players out due to injury. Injury problems have not been so bad for Leicester City this season so far (touch wood), despite the Seagrave curse theory going around social media. Anybody remember the FA Cup game vs Watford where it seemed that half the team were injured?

It’s all well and good the ‘big six’ calling for a change, but it would be interesting to know the thoughts of other clubs in the Premier League, and especially the Championship. Yes, the clubs at the top of the table also have European football to deal with, but they have the funds to be able to build a squad that should be able to cope with those demands.

Surely the amount of money they spend should fund a squad that is equipped for the demands of a season that managers know is ahead of them? Would that be so easy for clubs with lower budgets? Yet they’re the ones that are not so vocal.

Championship clubs have 46 league games to cope with, as well as cup competitions. But they operate on around the 10th of the budget, at best, of the biggest clubs

Speaking ahead of the Carabao Cup game against Newcastle, Man City boss Pep Guardiola explained why he was planning to make so many changes. “That is a problem when you have a lot of injuries, not today, but the effect is in three, four or five games,” the Man City boss explained.

“In the Carabao Cup, we have to go away to Newcastle. I am sorry but there are games where we are going play with the second team, some players, because we cannot with the dangers.”

Despite making a number of changes to his team, Guardiola was still able to name the likes of Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish in his starting line-up in the 1-0 defeat against Newcastle. He has built a squad that is able to cope with the demands, as shown by winning the treble last season.