Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have voiced their concerns over football’s ever-growing schedule

Earlier this week, Manchester City were given an absurd fixture pile-up regarding their third-round Carabao Cup tie against Watford. The champions will face Watford 49 hours after their Premier League fixture against Arsenal. That is a ridiculous situation for the champions to be presented with so early in the season. Now, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have also voiced their concerns over the ever-growing football calendar.

Kevin De Bruyne has now raised his concerns over the schedule faced by the players. In an interview with Reuters, he said: “The real problem will emerge after the Club World Cup. We know there will be only three weeks between the Club World Cup final and the first Premier League match. So, we have three weeks to rest and prepare for another 80 matches. Maybe this year things will be okay, but next year could be problematic. The Professional Footballers’ Association in England and other player associations have tried to find solutions. The issue is that UEFA and FIFA keep adding extra matches, and we can raise concerns, but no solutions have been found. It seems that money speaks louder than the players’ voices.”

Bernardo Silva voices his frustrations with the ever-growing schedule.

Earlier this week Bernardo Silva spoke about the effect the heavy workload he is faced with has had on him. In an interview with Portuguese publication Record, he explained: “The schedule is completely crazy. We’ve just received the news that we only have one day off for the English League Cup game. We’ll probably play every three days for months. It’s been absolutely absurd. In the Champions League, if you don’t qualify for the round of 16 you still have to play two more games. It’s true that the squads are bigger, but I’m not going to say that it’s easy. It hasn’t been easy. I spend very little time with my family and friends. The amount of games we’re subjected to is absolutely absurd.”

Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have further exposed the issues with the growing schedule.

Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva’s comments have further exposed the issues with football’s ever-growing calendar. At this point, a share of the lucrative television revenue pie that the game provides is causing the ever-growing issue of more football. FIFA and UEFA are forever expanding their competitions and it’s the players that will be paying the price.

As Kevin De Bruyne pointed out the expanded FIFA Club World Cup is due to commence at the end of the 24/25 season. Given that it’s set to follow a similar format to that of the World Cup it’s another cluster of fixtures for already tired players to contend with. The flow-on effect of it, as De Bruyne pointed out, will be seen at the beginning of the 25/26 season. Players can’t be expected to only have 3/4 weeks off at the end of a season. That’s not a practical idea. If the game isn’t already at breaking point with the amount of games being played perhaps next season will be. That will be something to follow at the completion of the Club World Cup next season.

As Bernardo, Silva explaind there is also, a human side to what the p,layers face. Yes they are handsomely rewarded for the honour of playing professional football. But it comes at a cost. It is often forgotten that the players are also fathers, partners and human beings in the coverage of the game. Yes the players, have to sacrifice to play at the top level but the players families and loved ones do as well. That’s the human side of the amount of football being played.

The issue of the amount of football the players are faced with playing isn’t going away. Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva have added their voice to the issues that the players are contending with. At some point the breaking point in the issue will be faced but when the game actually gets there remains to be seen. But based on how many games are being played that point isn’t too far away.