Pep Guardiola's comments raise questions about player safety

Pep Guardiola's pursuit of all four titles has potentially hit a snag. Manchester City won their fourth-round FA Cup tie against second-division Cardiff City, but lost star winger Leroy Sané to injury after a nasty, desperate tackle from Cardiff player Joe Bennett –  who was only booked. Guardiola was furious afterwards, saying that the quadruple would be impossible if his players kept getting injured.

"I have said many times, the only thing they [the officials] have to do is protect the players... Not only the Manchester City players, [all] the players," the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach said.

Officials are there to make sure the game is played fairly and safely, but holding them responsible for the sometimes reckless actions of others seems amiss. While they can react to a situation appropriately or not, they cannot prevent it.

The implementation of the video assistant referee (VAR) should go some way to increasing the number of red cards for incidents like Bennett's tackle, but sadly even that is not a perfect science. Quite a few dangerous challenges in the Bundesliga have escaped fair punishment despite the use of the VAR this season, and not enough appears to be being done in terms of concussion protocol.

Technology teething problems

Even when it does work and a red card is issued, the same issue remains: The foul still occurs. For all the benefits of technology it's unlikely to stop players from making desperate tackles in the heat of the moment. There will always be physical sides who seek to compensate for inferior technique – especially in cup competitions where the gap in quality between teams is often literally leagues apart.

Many players who have moved to England have commented on the more "physical" football played there – and Cardiff City head coach Neil Warnock said afterwards that Guardiola was in England now and that "you get different challenges, don't you?"

Guardiola did not criticize Cardiff City's more robust approach, but instead asked the officials to do a better job. What constitutes a better job though? Sending off Bennett for the foul would have been the fair decision but it wouldn't have prevented City's German international from getting injured. Perhaps sending off Bennett earlier would have reduced the level of aggression in the game, but can it really guarantee improved safety for the remaining players?

"The players are the artists, you have to take care of them," Guardiola also said afterwards. There's a line of argument that all artists suffer on the way to greatness, and clearly both Guardiola and his players are at the moment. While no one wants to see more tackles like Bennett's, ways to make the game truly safer remain elusive.