Mikel Arteta backs Pep Guardiola over congested fixtures for players | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has supported Pep Guardiola’s criticism of the fixture scheduling after his team’s game against Chelsea in the FA Cup.

Manchester City was put through a demanding Champions League quarterfinal in midweek, which resulted in penalties against Real Madrid.

They still had to face Chelsea in the FA Cup yesterday. Even though they won the match, Guardiola was furious at full-time.

He ranted that it makes no sense for the games to be scheduled so closely, especially after his team spent such a long time on the pitch against Madrid.

Arteta agrees with his former boss and said, as quoted by the Daily Mail:

‘It’s not about us, Pep or myself, it’s about the wellbeing of the players.

‘When you compete in European competition, every team has to compete in the same way.

‘You cannot have a team that hasn’t played for seven days, or three days before, and has more recovery time and then you have to play in the Premier League and the FA Cup.

‘It is not right. If you look in any angle, it’s not right. If you want to protect, let’s talk about the players and the protagonists.

‘Let’s protect the players and do everything we can to give them the maximum time to help them recover and perform and do the show that they do every week.’

Just Arsenal Opinion

Players play too many games nowadays, and we have to feel for them because they are also humans.

We know they make a lot of money, but that should not be an excuse to overwork them because nobody wants to see footballers dying from exhaustion.

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