Fewer Points to Win the Premier League? Guardiola Suggests Physical Demands are Rising
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes the Premier League title race may require fewer points to win this season due to the increasing physical strain on players.
Guardiola’s comments come after City’s recent 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth, which ended their 32-match unbeaten streak in the league. He acknowledged the grueling schedule and its impact on player recovery and performance.
A Century of Points: The New Normal?
City have set a new standard in recent years, reaching a historic 100 points in the 2017/18 season and repeatedly breaching the 90-point barrier under Guardiola. Their rivals have also stepped up their game, with Liverpool consistently challenging for the title with similarly high point totals.
This trend of high-scoring champions has become the norm in the Premier League. Before 2017, only four teams had managed to reach 90 points in the 21 years since the league structure changed to 20 teams playing 38 matches each. Now, six of the last eight champions have gone beyond that milestone.
The Physical Toll: Guardiola Speaks Out
“If we’d had five more days to prepare and recover, maybe we would have been better,” Guardiola admitted after the Bournemouth defeat. “I talked about the calendar for the season when we were winning, not just now because we lost a game. The reality is they won, we congratulate them.”
Guardiola highlighted the intense schedule, comparing it to the NBA, which boasts a much longer off-season. He observed, “It’s like the NBA, but they have four months holiday and we have three weeks. You have injuries for a long time like didn’t happen before. It’s normal, it’s going to happen. We have to handle it.”
City’s depleted squad against Bournemouth, missing key players like John Stones, Ruben Dias, and Kevin De Bruyne, exemplified the challenge Guardiola faces.
Looking Ahead: A Road Map for Success?
City’s upcoming participation in FIFA’s inaugural Club World Cup in July adds further pressure to an already demanding schedule.
Last month, Fifpro and a group representing 39 European leagues filed a legal complaint against FIFA over “abuse of dominance” relating to the number of games players are expected to participate in. Guardiola’s concerns echo this global movement.