Manchester City star Bernardo Silva has become the latest Blue and high-profile Premier League player to weigh in on growing concerns around the increasingly congested fixture list.
Silva’s comments come after Man City ended up conceding an equaliser to walk away with a draw instead of three points in what was already tipped as a title-challenging clash between Pep Guardiola and his protégé, Mikel Arteta, whose Arsenal side managed to score in stoppage time.
The number of games was a big talking point after the game – as it has been on multiple ocassions over the past year or so – and captain Bernardo Silva was one of the most outspoken on the matter following the full-time whistle.
Addressing the media during his post-match duties, the ‘Cityzen’ and Portugal midfielder said the current playing schedule is “not right” and is simply untenable for footballers to keep up with. You can see the full clip down below.
He gave an extensive response to the ongoing debate.
Speaking with multiple media outlets, the 31-year-old began by clarifying that his statements were not because his team lost, but because “the reality is we cannot come to one of the most important games [against title rivals Arsenal] in the season with such a disadvantage, in terms of rest.
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“It’s not fair to play one of these games like this, it’s just not right”, says the Man City man. “[Arsenal] had five days, we had two and a half. In one of the most important games, this cannot happen.
“I wasn’t feeling in a perfect condition to play, and people who have not played at the highest level don’t know how it feels to play a game like this.”
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Targeting his response at the likes of UEFA and those in charge of the current and undeniably full-on schedule, specifically, Silva said: “They don’t listen to us – it is what it is. We would like to change something, but it never changes.
“It doesn’t really matter, but for the fans, for the respect of the clubs, and for the fairness of the competition, I don’t think what happened was good…”
“The schedule is the schedule, and I understand you have different competitions and UEFA, the Premier League, and broadcasters want to make their money; we don’t mind playing every three or four days, and don’t mind playing 60 games – we’re used to that, but what we ask for is common sense.”
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It looks like City are putting up a united front on the matter, with Pep Guardiola sharing similar sentiments on Sky Sports (a question he quite clearly resented), stating that his squad were “incredibly tired” even going into the game.
“Are you satisfied?”
Pep Guardiola fires back with a cheeky comment when pressed on City’s demanding schedule and player fatigue 😅 pic.twitter.com/bULiLV75OH
As for the City skipper, he went on to reiterate: “This is one of the biggest games of the season. It’s not because of us, I don’t think they’re trying to make us lose – it could happen to Arsenal or Liverpool in a few months…
You need to have a bit of common sense and understanding of these situations, and in such an important game, players need to be in the same physical conditions; otherwise, I don’t think it’s fair.
In short, the senior City deputy and Portuguese international said he could tell the difference in the two teams’ fitness levels in the first half, adding: “If you play at the highest level, you know two days playing against one of the best teams in the league, away, with the travel, you need at least one more day to recover.
“It doesn’t matter if Arsenal had four, five or six days [to recover], just give us one more day, and that gives us three-and-a-half days, then you make it an even game. Two-and-a-half days is not enough to recover our bodies and perform at the highest level…”
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Do you agree with Bernardo Silva and so many other players’ opinions on the fixture list congestion?
Viral Manchester United fan attacked by fellow Red after ‘needless’ behaviour inside Old Trafford
Danny Jones
A Manchester United fan who has gone viral for his haircut strike stunt was involved in an incident at Old Trafford this weekend after another supporter attacked him.
Known online as ‘The United Strand’, Man United fan Frank Ilett has famously vowed not to cut his hair until his team win five games in a row.
The 29-year-old was in attendance for United’s fiery clash against Chelsea, which not only saw a very unwelcoming reception for Alejandro Garnacho on his first return to the stadium, but also ended in two red cards and plenty of flare-ups on the pitch.
However, scrapping up in the concourse caught plenty of attention, too; Ilett was grabbed by another fan by the hair and yanked around for several seconds. You can see the clip down below:
What a horrible man. United Strand seems like a such a calm guy, shocking. https://t.co/SdG2mXLJAR
As you can see, he remains remarkably calm throughout the entire unprovoked ordeal and looks to have been a very popular figure around the ground up until this moment.
Countless other Reds were chatting with him and grabbing selfies before the as-yet-unidentified male approached him and began grabbing him by the hair.
Frank initially looks like he thinks it’s nothing more than a jokey tug and bit of teasing, as do many others in the immediate vicinity, before it becomes abundantly clear that the aggressive individual intends to do him harm.
After being pulled apart, the attacker can be heard shouting, “F*** off, I’ll do what I f*****g want! He’s not a United f*****g fan…”
Luckily, plenty more right-minded supporters close by were on hand to help in the moment and keep him away from Frank; we only hope he was immediately reported to security soon following the altercation.
Now approaching nearly a full year of not cutting his hair until his team, he shared his most recent video update this morning, opting not to go into the ordeal at this time, adding instead: “I’ll talk about it a bit more some other time.”
Unsurprisingly, his attacker has been quickly condemned by the majority of other fans who identified the behaviour as nothing short of unacceptable and nothing short of criminal.
One person commented: “The United Strand lad is such a lovely lad, this guy with the bald head is well out of order, and I suppose he is jealous of him because he is popular! What a f*****g w****r!”
It’s worth noting that Frank Ilett started the self-imposed challenge of refusing to cut his hair not only as just a silly bit of fun but as a unique way of generating funds for The Little Princess Trust, who help raise money and supply real-hair wigs to young people who have lost their hair through cancer.
He also helped raise money for the crucial mental health charity, Mind, and even appeared as a guest on The Last Leg to help raise further awareness.
Manchester United has yet to issue any kind of statement addressing the situation; in the meantime, we hope Frank isn’t too shaken up by the whole thing, and we’ll simply direct you to his JustGiving page, where you can donate to the charity HERE.
You can see the highlights from Man United’s much-needed win over Chelsea here.
Featured Images — The United Strand/@StokeyyG2 (via X)/Humz (via Instagram)
Sport
Erling Haaland breaks yet ANOTHER record as Man City look back at the races
Danny Jones
Erling Haaland has broken yet another record following his fantastic finish in the Champions League last night, and Manchester City look to be getting back to business as usual.
It was a night which was set up to be a glorious homecoming (admittedly, sooner than expected) for Kevin De Bruyne, who paid his visit to the Etihad Stadium since leaving the club this summer, but not everything exactly went according to plan.
Not only did an early red card for Napoli see the Italian champions down to 10 men and effectively trying to survive for just over an hour, but the need for a tactical substitution from ex-Chelsea coach Antonio Conte also meant that De Bruyne was hooked off after just 26 minutes.
Being given an even more premature standing ovation than his return to his former club – Conte actually apologising to the Belgian for what he deemed a necessary sacrifice – and signalling a collapse in the second half, said downfall was largely brought on by this bit of genius from Haaland and Phil Foden:
As you can see, the assist from the ‘Stockport Iniesta’ was arguably even more deft than the header, but take nothing away from the move as a whole, because it felt like yet more signs of City getting back to their ingenious best.
Special mention should go to Jeremy Doku as well, who’s speedy and direct drive then dribble into the six-yard box sealed the victory with a two-goal cushion and shared shades of his strike in the Manchester derby this past weekend.
However, it was yet another milestone moment for Haaland, who opened the scoring not only to put their first points on the board in the 2025/26 UCL campaign, but also became the fastest player to net 50 goals in the premier European competition.
Of course, we shouldn’t be that surprised by the achievement: Haaland was putting up serious numbers even before he arrived in England; he just seems to have increased the number of statistical feats he keeps surpassing since he got there.
Speaking to the media after the game, Man City manager Pep Guardiola said Haaland should now be seen as up there with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, remarking, “they are on another planet”.
“It’s not easy for Erling, always with many defenders around him”, he went on to add, “but he’s fantastic”, noting that he is improving already this season.
Do you agree with Pep’s bold claim – do you think he is ready to be considered among the greatest ever?
You watch Haaland reach another Champions League record and the rest of the highlights from Manchester City vs Napoli here.
Danny Jones -
22nd September 2025 
