Pep Guardiola calls for player strike as Erik ten Hag blames hectic schedule for Man Utd's injury woes

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has urged players across the globe to stand against the increasingly busy football schedule which is taking its toll on their welfare.

The introduction of a mid-season World Cup last year only added fuel to an existing debate about the safety of players, who are now playing more football than ever before and appear to be struggling with the physical impact of doing so.

In the Premier League, the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are among a number of clubs missing a large portion of their squads through injury, but the trend can be seen across the globe. Real Madrid lost both Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao to ACL injuries during the summer, while the same injury has proven to be a real menace to women's football in recent years.

Repeated calls for help from the authorities have tended to fall on deaf ears and so Guardiola has now urged players to take note of the actions of the Spanish women's side, who fought back against their own federation in search of better working conditions and the removal of former president Luis Rubiales.

«There is only one solution to change something, maybe if all the players decide for themselves to say, 'Stop', then you have to change something,» Guardiola said. «And then FIFA, UEFA will maybe react a little bit.

»In this business the show must go on. Without Pep, keep going, but without the players the show will not go on. But it depends on them, if they decide."

He continued: «Look at Spain with the women’s team, the players decided to change something and they changed it. They changed something because the players decided that they had something inside to protect the players, and the future of the teams for new generations. The biggest