Celtic boss publicly agrees with Manchester City superstar

Celtic are set to kick off their Champions League campaign in midweek as they welcome Slovan Bratislava to Parkhead. The new format of the competition means that the Hoops are now going to play eight games in the opening stage and in what is a rare instance, they enter the first fixture as the favourites.

Also, most fans believe that Celtic have a better chance of qualifying for the knockout phase of the competition due to this new format. It also means that they will have to play more games though.

That is never easy, when you consider how tight the schedule is for Celtic already. They are expected to compete for all three domestic titles every year. And now, they have the increased schedule of the Champions League to deal with too.

Quite a few Manchester City players have recently been vocal about the growing footballing calendar. The latest being Ballon d'Or contender, Rodri. And it looks like Brendan Rodgers agrees with his sentiments.

Celtic boss publicly agrees with Manchester City superstar

As reported by 67 Hail Hail, in a pre-match interview with Sky Sports, Rodgers said:

"I think it’s something that I’ve mentioned before; I think that if you look to football may be heading, you’re maybe looking at a 12-month season, really. It used to be that you had that sort of summer break, and that was near enough assured from a player perspective.

“I think, in particular, the top players as well, and we look at our own selves in our own country, we’ll hopefully go deep into the competitions, so you’ve got all of those games plus the international games. I totally understand where he is coming from; he’s not moaning about games; it’s about the quality of games.

“When the first thing that goes is technical ability when you’re tired and fatigued, what we always want is the best product for the supporters. Every football player loves to play, they love to train, but they want to produce quality and be able to be at their best as often as they can be, so it’s a natural concern, I totally get it."

It would be safe to say that more games mean that the quality of football is going to decline. That is just the reality of the situation at hand.

Footballers are already playing every three days at the moment. Add to that the travel aspect of things. And there is very little time for them to recover.

Also, one cannot overlook that having more frequent gams is only going to increase the risk of injuries further. In recent years, we have seen more muscle issues being picked up by players and it is not hard to understand why that is the case.

Many fans already complain that football is losing its individuality and entertainment aspect as it moves to a more tactical and system-based approach. And while increasing games means more football to watch for the supporters, that increase in quantity is inversely proportional to the quality.