Erling Haaland: "It's difficult to be sharp if you play over 70 games a year"

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has become the latest player to voice concerns about the congested match calendar.

Some City stars played over 70 games in the 2023/24 season as a result of club and national team competitions: English midfielder Phil Foden was included in 77 matchday squads and made 72 appearances, while Argentinian striker Julian Alvarez was included in 78 matchday squads and made 71 appearances.

Haaland, who had a summer break with Norway not qualifying for UEFA EURO 2024, has taken note of the visible fatigue among players.

"We all saw in the Euros how tired people were. You could see the level, you could see even in people’s faces how tired they were of football, if you can say it that way," Haaland told media in New York during City’s pre-season tour.

"That’s how it will be as well this season, not in the start, though maybe for some because some will not get a lot of vacation. But that’s the way we’re going now, I don’t think we can be sharp in every single game. We can try, but it’s difficult to be sharp if you play over 70 games a year."

Elite level players are set to endure even more matches in the 2024/25 season with the expanded UEFA Champions League and the new 32-team FIFA Club World Cup.

City reported back for training on 15 July 2024. The Club World Cup final is scheduled for 13 July 2025 and with the 2025/26 campaign set to begin just a month after, it leaves little time for rest amidst a cannibalised calendar.

European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe last week announced that they will jointly file a formal complaint to the European Commission on competition law grounds against FIFA regarding the international match calendar.

It came a month after FIFPRO Europe member unions submitted a legal claim against FIFA, challenging the legality of FIFA's decisions to unilaterally set the international match calendar and, in particular, the decision to create and schedule the Club World Cup.