Pep Guardiola has been stressing the point for years, and Kevin De Bruyne was blunt when asked about his opinion of UEFA's decision to hold four Nations League games in June.
Now those four games are over, it's hard to argue that De Bruyne didn't have it spot on, with all countries showing tiredness and few showing much progress, even looking ahead to the World Cup. For Guardiola watching on, he will have seen plenty to encourage him from a Manchester City perspective, but equally won't have seen much to persuade him that a longer break for his players would have been more beneficial.
Still, with 15 senior City players in action, Guardiola can use these four games to help plan his pre-season preparations and try to predict how his players will be used for their countries in September and then the World Cup.
