Manager Kieran McKenna says he has sympathy with top players’ concerns regarding the number of games they play over the course of a season, but says the situation isn’t the same for his side with matches coming much less frequently.

Earlier in the week, Manchester City's Rodri floated the possibility of players going on strike due to an increasingly busy fixture calendar.

“I think there are a few different elements to it,” McKenna said when asked for his thoughts. “I have had a few years of seeing a different perspective of it.

“At Man United, we went deep in almost every cup competition and Europe most seasons. And with Covid-interrupted seasons, there were almost two seasons where we played almost two games a week.

“And this season, we are looking at the schedule as a group of staff, managers and players and really there aren’t that many games. You look at the two international breaks and when we play Fulham and then after the second international break, we play four games in eight weeks.

“There is definitely a disparity between the players who are playing at the absolute top level in football, progressing deep in cup competitions and playing international football, and Premier League players who aren’t doing that. The two dimensions are different.

“I certainly feel empathy for the players who go away for internationals - having seen the demands of players at United and even our own players going away and playing two games and coming back here maybe on a Thursday and having the demand to perform at your best again one or two days later is certainly a big challenge.

“But on the other hand, I do think now as Premier League clubs we all have squads and we have the backing to build squads. Every Premier League club has 20-plus players in the squad and I do think there is also the possibility sometimes between clubs and international managers realising that if there are a lot of games, players can’t play every minute of every game possibly. There are also times that we might have to give them protection.

“I think there’s a balance to be had, certainly the calendar is really, really busy for those top, top players and I think there needs to be some protection given to the players who are playing across all competitions, club and international football.

“On the other hand, I think there’s also some onus on us to manage the players’ load across a long season and utilise the squads that we’ve built.”

Photo: TWTD

bobble added 23:11 - Sep 19 Should be an advantage to smaller teams if anything
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VanDusen added 09:40 - Sep 20 Maybe these whining big clubs should get their greasy paws off the EFL Trophy for a start, an then stop flying off to far flung places for their lucrative 'friendlies' in Asia and Australia.
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BobbyBell added 12:01 - Sep 20 If I earned what they do I wouldn't be moaning. I'd be enjoying every game of what is a short career. They could always take a wages cut to play for less successful clubs and forgo their sponsorship deals and medals.
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scooby added 14:55 - Sep 20 Top division used to be 22 clubs so 42 games. Squad sizes used to be way smaller so compared to those times im guessing most players now moan more about playing more when game time is probably far less. Premier league doesnt seem to have the same excitement as the efl. Theres not enough games and its all to disjointed. Odd game here odd game there.
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