Expert issues ‘concerning’ Man City claim as two new rule changes confirmed
Man City will welcome IFAB’s new rule changes ahead of the World Cup – but they will still struggle to reckon with the “strange” timing of the tournament in Qatar.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
City had 15 players called up to international duty this time around and the majority of their senior stars will be in action in Qatar.
The controversial tournament begins on 21 November and ends on 18 December in a departure from the usual summer format.
IFAB, football’s chief lawmaker, announced on Wednesday (13 June), that teams at the World Cup will be able to make five substitutes and draw from deeper 15-man benches.
Dinnery assessed how the new rules will be received by the reigning Premier League champions.
“I think any opportunity to manage players in terms of their load will be welcomed,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“We are talking about a competition that has been shoehorned into the middle of the domestic season. All you want is for those players to come back fit, healthy and able to transition back to club football as soon as possible.
“You could argue that when we look at some of the congestion around December, their World Cup schedule may actually represent slightly easier demands on the body.
“But the difficulty is we’re talking about a different climate, different time zone, different structures, different training styles. All of these things will come together and create the potential of creating more injuries.
“Deep benches are great in terms of managing minutes. But how effective that will be, only time will tell. A lot will come down to the individual, what club they belong and how quickly they can adapt.
“If players are carrying one or two niggling injuries, it could exacerbate things. We just don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a strange one.
“It certainly is a concern off the back of Covid disruption and another shortened pre-season programme.”
In other news, Kalvin Phillips tells Leeds United he wants to join Man City.