Man City star Bernardo Silva warns bosses that players are at breaking point
Bernardo Silva admits he can’t complain about the increasing demands of football when the game has made him a multi-millionaire.
But the livewire Manchester City midfielder has warned that players are not only being put in harm’s way by a workload that will include a new Club World Cup in 2025, but that the quality which has earned the Premier League a new TV deal worth £6.7billion will suffer.
Silva regularly puts in 13-kilometre shifts for City and Portugal - and will continue to do so while the money rolls in. But as Pep Guardiola ’s Treble winners attempt to become world champions for the first time during a week-long stint in Saudi Arabia, the 29-year-old felt compelled to serve notice that the game is at breaking point.
“I am not going to lie, sometimes I feel tired,” said Silva. "All of us, we feel tired for some games because we play every three days.
“We don’t rest. We have no Christmas, we have no summer. But that’s the price you pay for being at a top club and fighting for all competitions. At the end our dream was to play at this level. Personally, I’m not going to complain.
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“But I say this because of the rest players get, because the risk of injuries goes up quite a lot. At the end we play because we earn a lot of money.
”But, in my opinion, for the people who love the game and are entertained by the game, if we have this many games for so long then they will lose the energy and the intensity.”
City meet Asia champions Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday for the right to face Brazilian Copa Libertadores winners Fluminense or African champions Al Ahly of Egypt in Friday's final.
Pep Guardiola has admitted the extra games at next year's Club World Cup are less than idealThe revamped tournament will be played over a month in the United States in 2025. The two finalists will play seven games. City have already qualified after lifting last season’s Champions League.
Silva said: “No, we (the players) were not consulted but we try to do our job. Our job is to represent, in the best possible way, our clubs and our national teams.
"In the case of the Club World Cup it is our clubs, the people who pay our salaries, and the fans who support us every day. But yes, the reality is that the amount of games we have nowadays – and even more with the new competitions – is now a bit crazy.
“It’s just my opinion, but the new World Cup they are going to do for clubs in 2025 I think is a top competition. So no complaints but obviously the amount of games and the make it complicated for us to be fit all the time and for our energy levels to be proper.”
Guardiola, who has often championed the need to protect players against burn-out, also appears to have accepted that resistance is futile.
The City boss suggested he will treat the tournament in 2025 as something akin to a family holiday. But the winners will bank around £100million.
Guardiola said: “FIFA took a decision. All the clubs support that decision and I am part of those clubs. There are a lot of games, but what can I do?
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“I guess we will fly to the States - hopefully with all the families - and play the new World Cup. I am not against new competitions. I am against the lack of time to recover. This is what I’m complaining about."
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