City chief pleads: Give us a break!

MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola has warned football's bosses they are killing the game in their bid to get more bang for their buck.

- Simon Mullock

 

The Spaniard has taken the risk of losing ground in the title race by giving the squad that won the Treble last season some extra holidays to rest tired minds and bodies.

City start the new campaign against Arsenal in the Community Shield and have also had the European Super Cup and Club World Cup crowbarred into their tight schedule.

That has left Guardiola angry at FIFA chiefs for continuing to ask for more from players who are running on empty.

City have already qualified for an expanded Club World Cup to be staged for the first time in the United States in the summer of 2025.

And the Blues boss is just as furious over new proposals to combat time-wasting by instructing match officials to just keep on playing.

He said: "Every pre-season is shorter.

"I know we are going to make a World Cup for the clubs in the United States, so that means after finishing the season another two or three weeks.