Worrying Man City position backs up grave Pep Guardiola warning as new reality bites

No player in world football played more games last season than Manchester City's Julian Alvarez. And only Alvarez played more than Phil Foden.

As City make a habit of topping tables on the pitch and off it, this is one that doesn't reflect well on the state of the game. Pep Guardiola and his players have led calls for the international calendar to be improved for players, but City are in between a rock and a hard place as their success means they are playing more and more games.

Next summer's expanded Club World Cup has prompted talk of a player strike - if it goes ahead, players at City, for example, could play 85 games for club and country and then 86 next year. Between the first day of pre-season this summer to the potential Club World Cup final is a day shy of a full year. A 12-month season. There is simply no time to stop.

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The Alvarez and Foden examples lead a new damning report by FIFPro, the players' union, in which City feature heavily. They are one of the best teams in world football and boast a squad packed full of internationals, so it's only natural their players are playing more than anybody else.

Guardiola said in the summer something must change, 'otherwise they will die'. Bernardo Silva slammed the schedule last April as 'unacceptable'. Erling Haaland noted that the quality of play at the Euros was poor because everyone was 'tired', and Rodri has been a vocal critic of the pressures on players for some time.

It's no surprise - Rodri made 72 matchday squads last season for club and country (after starting the campaign insisting he