Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has blasted the English Premier League over the scheduling of the club’s fixture against Bournemouth.
The defending champions will play their penultimate league fixture of the season at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday after the game was moved because of City’s participation in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
Speaking to the press during an interview, Pep questioned why the crucial match couldn’t be played on Wednesday to give his players 24 hours more rest ahead of the next game.
According to him, it is even more frustrating when he factored in how the same league brought Tottenham Hotspur’s game against Aston Villa forward, just so they can prepare well enough for their Europa League final.
Pep Guardiola revealed that playing an intense game on Tuesday night after an important FA Cup final clash is simply inconsiderate, especially because Bournemouth are a very intense and physical team.
“I would prefer to play on Wednesday, definitely. It will be tough. We have been nine years fighting against these situations, every single season and nothing goes.
We are going to play Tuesday night against a most intense and physical and direct and powerful [team] in the Premier League like Bournemouth, who are playing for the Europa League or Conference qualification. So we have to deal with that,” he said.
Pep maintained that his players are not robots, and it is the duty of the FA to ensure they are always in good condition for games by scheduling their fixture list the right way.
The Spaniard concluded by saying he’ll definitely do his job to ensure his players are ready to deliver in both games, reiterating their readiness to always give their all for the club.
“Tottenham Hotspur play against Aston Villa on Friday ahead of the Europa League final.
Good decision, I’m not being sarcastic. The Premier League made a good decision, very good. We played all the time in semifinals and quarterfinals on Wednesday away and we play [again] on Saturday.
This season we didn’t play, we played Sunday. We didn’t need that day extra when we played in that position.”
