Bernardo Silva Complains About Fixture Pile Up: Manchester City star midfielder Bernardo Silva has slammed the English Football Association (FA) for the tight schedule they have created for his team that has resulted in them playing three games in a week.
The Citizens are the favourites to win every trophy they play for. They will be looking to repeat the impressive feat of winning the ‘treble’ like they did in the 2022/23 season. But with a team participating and going deep in every competition, there is bound to be some scheduling headaches, which would lead to a fixture pile-up.
The Pep Guardiola-managed side will take on Inter in their first UEFA Champions League match of the season on Thursday, September 19. They will then face title contenders Arsenal in one of the biggest Premier League matches of the season on Sunday, September 22. Finally, they will face Watford in the third round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday, September 25.
Bernardo Silva Complains About Fixture Pile Up
Silva, who has been crucial to the Sky-Blues’ success in recent years, recently complained about the match congestion to the Portuguese outlet Record. His complaints revolved more around the PL and EFL Cup matches, which are both scheduled by the FA.
“I think there are two completely different issues here. When the players complain, people say that players can’t complain about the life they have. And they’re right because we’re fulfilling a dream and we do what we do. On the other hand, the schedule is completely crazy. We’ve just received the news that we only have one day off for the English League Cup game. We play Arsenal, we rest for a day, and then we have the game against Watford,” he said.
Bernardo Silva then went on to complain about how the extended UCL League stage has resulted in even more matches. And although the squad sizes for the teams have grown, top players like him get very little time to spend with friends and family, saying,
“And if we don’t get knocked out of any other competition, we’ll play every three days for months. It’s been absolutely absurd. In the Champions League, if you don’t qualify for the round of 16, you still have to play two more games. It’s true that the squads are bigger, but I’m not going to say that it’s easy. It hasn’t been easy. I spend very little time with my family and friends. The amount of games we’re subjected to is absolutely absurd.”
Manchester City has already won their first trophy of the season when they defeated cross-town rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield by penalties. They have since won all three of their opening Premier League games and are on top of the table with a +7 goal difference.
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