Too many games in football: base and reserves are a solution – 09/30/2023 – The World Is a Ball

Asked by journalists about the excessive number of matches played by players each season, renowned coach Pep Guardiola, from Manchester City, stated that it is up to the athletes to change this situation.

For the Spaniard, only an uprising organized by the players, in an act of confrontation with the management, will be effective in reducing the workload they undergo.

“There will be no change,” said Guardiola, who manages the current English and European champions. “There is only one solution: if the players decide for themselves. To tell the organizations ‘stop’, something needs to change. If there is a movement, perhaps FIFA and UEFA will react.”

I agree that the reduction in matches will not happen if it depends on the entities that control, respectively, world football (Fifa) and European football (Uefa). Nor from any other entity, anywhere in the world.

Football is today, more than ever, a business, and business aims to make money. Passion has long taken a back seat for almost all participants in the sport – that’s all that remains: the fans, those selfless people.

Sponsors negotiate with federations and clubs and give names to competitions, stadiums, put their brands in advertising in arenas, on players’ uniforms.

They invest a lot and want a return. The more matches, the more exposure, the greater the chance of satisfaction for these companies and for them to renew their contracts.

Media outlets negotiate with federations and clubs and acquire the rights to broadcast events.

They invest a lot and want a return. Return via audience, as this results in interest from advertisers, who are the ones who pay the bill. And, the more games, the more chances that the ads will be served and that those who paid will be satisfied and, therefore, continue paying.

Guardiola focuses on tournament organizers, but forgets that clubs are also interested in expanding the number of matches.

In addition to the revenue agreed with sponsors and the media, there are financial contributions from the box office (sale of tickets, per game or per package of games), sale of products (shirts, caps, pennants, keychains, pets, etc.), food and you drink in stadiums.

The players, since without them there is no way to play the matches, coming together to confront the current system, for example going on strike, could be a way of getting the attention of those above them and getting results.

It would need to happen to know the consequences, but the category is historically disunited, and a strike is almost utopia.

Furthermore, as Guardiola points out, there is a lack of coherence among the footballers themselves: “They complain when they always play, but when they don’t play a match, they also complain.”

Almost every player is hungry, they always want to be on the field, because they like what they do and don’t want to just watch. There are some exceptions, the so-called “slippers”, those suspected of having a soft body, who are “injured”, that is, wearing more flip-flops than football boots.

The truth is that the football calendar tends to have more, not fewer, games per season. The Champions League will have more matches, the World Cup will have more matches. In 2021, UEFA introduced an extra interclub club, the Conference League.

In this scenario, there are teams, and consequently players from those teams, who will sometimes play more games.

Reducing championships, and consequently the number of matches that teams and athletes are subject to, will not happen. There is nothing to indicate this.

However, the solution exists, and is in the hands of Guardiola and the other coaches, logically counting on the consent of club directors.

Simply establish a limit of matches for each player per season, regardless of the number of matches the team plays.

For the athlete’s physical and mental health, he will be limited to four matches per month. If you play 10 to 11 months a year, there are 40 to 44 games, which does not seem excessive – in the 2022/2023 season, Manchester City took to the field 65 times, from July 20th to June 10th –, especially because it can be replaced in some or only entered during others.

But this amount of games would have to be valid for all players, all over the world. Become a rule, in a great collective agreement. Employment law.

In other games, and this requires planning from the coaching staff, the reserves and/or the best from the youth teams play, giving them the chance to gain experience and showcase their qualities – a new star will emerge.

Ah!, but there are fans. Fans pay a lot and don’t want to go to the stadium to see the substitutes or newcomers, they always want to see the big names, the stars, the idols.

But the acceptance of the fans, with all due respect to them (without whom the show is boring), doesn’t count. Fans don’t whistle anything, they’ve never whistled and I don’t see them whistling.

A fan’s life is one of suffering, complaints, resignation and, on certain occasions (rare for most), joy.

Fans aside, there is a knack for excessive games. What we don’t have is the willingness to find a way. And there’s no way.