“They Looked Completely Dead” – Pep Guardiola’s ‘Unacceptable’ Schedule Complaint Gets Echoed by Ex-Arsenal Star

Pep Guardiola still can’t believe how Manchester City players ‘survived’ in the FA Cup semi-final win against Chelsea. The coach blasted the English FA for organizing the semi-final tie within two days of City playing for more than 120 minutes against Real Madrid in the Champions League. “It’s unacceptable. It’s not normal. For the health of the players, after 120 minutes vs Real… it’s unacceptable,” Guardiola said. Similar to Guardiola, ex-Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs believes the English FA’s match schedule is highly detrimental to players’ health.

A bunch of former soccer players and analysts discussed Manchester City’s FA Cup win against Chelsea in the latest ESPN FC episode. They termed the victory a struggling win, as City players were visibly tired throughout the game. Later, show host Dan Thomas asked Kieran Gibbs if Guardiola had a point with his comments on the crammed schedule. “This is something that has to be changed. You have to be able to take care of these players because otherwise, you’ll get performances like that from Manchester City, which no one wants to see. They looked completely dead today,” said Kieran Gibbs.

The ex-Arsenal full-back added that had the FA given the Cityzens a day to recuperate, they would have been healthier and played a much more entertaining game. Notably, Pep Guardiola’s comments become all the more relevant, as he pointed out that the FA went ahead with such a crammed schedule, despite the likes of Chelsea not playing next week. Meanwhile, Dan Thomas pointed out that the English FA’s counterparts, such as the Spanish league authorities, help their clubs by compromising on the schedule.

Pep Guardiola’s prompts comparison between English FA and other European bodies

During the ESPN FC episode, Dan Thomas pointed out that La Liga has approved Real Madrid’s request to prepone their game against Real Sociedad to prepare for the UCL semi-finals against Bayern Munich. However, soon, former soccer star Craig Burley intervened and said the English FA is prone to fixture congestion because of its broadcast deals. Burley hinted that the English competitions have more pressure from television broadcasters than their counterparts, without diving deeper into the subject.

Thereafter, Burley not-so-subtly raised eyebrows at Pep Guardiola’s outrage. He said the Spanish boss is concerned about players’ health while he had made only three substitutions when he could have made five. Burley added that Guardiola has infamously been complaining about fixture congestion in the past when he settles for just one substitution in place of five. Given the intense physical toll of recurring games, Guardiola is right to have condemned the FA. Meanwhile, Burley’s take on the same proves there are always two sides to anything.