Pep Guardiola has a major Man City gripe no-one is solving

Pep Guardiola could be forgiven for watching some of the European Championship games through his fingers.

The Manchester City chief has 14 players at the tournament, plus Julian Alvarez at the Copa America. The Argentina striker would have been joined by Ederson if the Brazilian wasn't injured.

And it's injuries Guardiola will be most concerned with. City have played a mammoth 120 games over the last two seasons and it won’t get any easier this season with an expanded Club World Cup added to the calendar.

The expanding club fixture list will no doubt irk Guardiola as he chases more silverware in what could be his final season in charge at the Etihad. It's long been an issue for the City chief, perhaps most pointedly after the FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, a game that came just days after a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid.

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"It's impossible, for the health of the players," Guardiola said at the time. "It's not normal. I just want to protect my players. It's common sense. I'm not asking for something special or privilege."

Data released by FIFPro showed four City players - Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji and Alvarez - in the top 10 for most appearances between September 2022 and September 2023.

The demands of top-level football are such that all four must be monitored and assessed as the season unfolds given the physical nature of the Premier League and the strain being put on the players' bodies.

Next season the Champions League changes come into play, adding an extra two group stage fixtures. Throw