Phil Foden and Cole Palmer missed out on this summer’s World Cup because they have been overworked, according to the chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association.
Maheta Molango was speaking as new data showed that seven of the 10 players involved in the most games across Europe’s top leagues this season were at English clubs.
Molango said the game was being damaged by the demands placed on “the players who make us dream” and argued that Foden has been victim of what the international players’ union Fifpro calls “cumulative fatigue”: a drop in performance levels caused by sustained overwork.
“Less than two years ago Phil Foden was voted by his own peers in England as the best player of the league,” Molango said. “The reality is that, since then, the number of games that he has been available for has dropped. And when he has been available, it has not been the version of Phil Foden that we saw two years ago. Is it just a coincidence? We think that it’s not.
“Unfortunately, he’s one of the victims of this crazy calendar that only makes sense for those who pursue commercial gain. This year, effectively, he has missed out on some of the biggest games because he was not fit. Because he just could not cope with that demand that has been on him for a number of years.”
Foden has played through the past two summers, featuring for England at the Euros in 2024 and for Manchester City at the Club World Cup last year. Palmer also played in those tournaments, for England and Chelsea, and featured in the Under-21 European Championship in the summer of 2023.
“It’s very sad we’ve seen only a glimpse of Cole Palmer during this year,” Molango said. “He has been one of those guys who have gone three consecutive summers without a break.” ”
Fifpro’s annual player workload monitoring report shows Arsenal’s Martín Zubimendi top of this season’s appearances list for club and country, with 67 so far. Club Brugge players feature second, third and 10th, but the rest of the top 10 is made up of Premier League players, with Declan Rice, Virgil van Dijk, Morgan Rogers and Dominik Szoboszlai on 65 appearances and Sandro Tonali and Cody Gakpo on 64.
This level of output, Molango says, will lead to decline if sustained over a two- or three-year period. “It is to the detriment of the show and the detriment of those who should be football heritage,” Molango said. “For us a guy like Phil Foden, or Lamine Yamal, or Rodri, should be protected. They are the 1% that make us dream and it’s a very, very sad state of affairs if someone like Phil is not on the pitch.”
The PFA is lobbying to be given a seat on the Football Association Board to ensure the views of players are represented in the governing body’s decision-making process. Fifpro was given a position on Uefa’s executive committee this week, with its president, David Terrier, attending his first meeting in Istanbul last week, and the PFA wants a similar acknowledgment of the players’ voice in England.
Many of the biggest issues facing football in the next few years have player welfare at their heart, with the European-centric global calendar under pressure from new competitions and the emergence of nation-state-backed funding from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia.
The memorandum of understanding between Fifa, the six confederations, domestic leagues and Fifpro that governs the global calendar expires in 2030 and negotiations over a new deal will begin next year.
Fifa’s desire to expand the Club World Cup to 48 teams from 2029, as revealed by the Guardian last year, will place increased demands on the leading players, as will Saudi Arabia’s staging of the 2034 World Cup, which will have to take place during the European winter and will cause significant disruption to two domestic seasons.
The PFA wants to ensure that the players have a formal say at FA level when they are determining their position on such important issues. The PFA and FA declined to comment.
