Man City told to launch Uefa revolt as Pep Guardiola fumes – Keith Wyness
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness has suggested elite clubs like Man City should “push back against Uefa and Fifa” amid concerns about player welfare.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested Uefa and Fifa are “creating the biggest problem” despite the recent scrapping of FA Cup replays.
Speaking after Man City’s FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea on Saturday (20 April), manager Pep Guardiola slammed his side’s “unacceptable” schedule and claimed his players made an “incredible effort” to win the game.
City were playing at Wembley just three days after bowing out of the Champions League quarter-final away at Real Madrid.
The treble-winners played 61 games across all competitions in a historic 2022-23 campaign.
Uefa are ‘creating the biggest problem’ for Man City after Guardiola rant, says Wyness
Wyness insisted the real problem is at the “top level” – despite the successful campaign to curtail the FA Cup.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “The biggest issue with player welfare is at the top level.
“For all the Uefa lip service being paid to this issue at the moment, they are the ones creating the biggest problem.
“That’s one area where English football has to push back – against Uefa and Fifa. But it may be too late, with the calendar coming up in the next year.
“There’s also the older pros, who talk about playing 60-70 games a season on pitches that were absolutely atrocious – and never complained of tiredness. There’s a lot of sympathy for that point of view.
“I think most of us would swap into place with a professional footballer, with all the benefits they have.”
In other news, Man City could sell forward this summer in shock move.
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