Ange Postecoglou and Son Heung-min call for changes to football calendar
UEFA this season increased the initial phase of the Champions League and Europa League from six games to eight.
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Your support makes all the difference.Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou and captain Son Heung-min have both insisted the growing football schedule must be addressed.
Spurs begin their Europa League campaign on Thursday at home to Qarabag and the initial phase of the competition has been extended to eight games instead of six, which is also the same for the Champions League.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested last week that players could strike over the increasing fixture congestion before days later he suffered a serious knee injury.
“They may take things into their own hands. They’re the ones most affected to be honest, so you would understand if they started to think as a collective, how much are we going to have to continually not have a say in?” Postecoglou explained.
“I have spoken already about the fact we’re getting to a real dangerous level about what our expectations are around players. Instead of focusing on one or two tournaments, it’s about the calendar. That is more of an issue.
“Players don’t get a break between seasons any more like they used to. There are more tournaments both at club level, international level and continental level.
“So, it’s going to get to a point where we are not going to have the best players out there playing and even worse them breaking down for various reasons. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed.”
The issue is of particular significance for Son, who regularly travels across the world to feature in South Korea matches before a quick turnaround back to domestic matters.
It's going to get to a point where we are not going to have the best players out there playing and even worse them breaking down for various reasons. It's definitely something that needs to be addressed
Son insisted the players are not robots and highlighted City being forced to play Watford on Tuesday two days after an action-packed 2-2 draw with Arsenal where Rodri was injured.
“You don’t want to see players struggling with injuries. No one wants to see it. A lot of games, a lot of travelling. We’ve got to look after ourselves, which sometimes is very hard,” Son reflected.
“Mentally, physically, you’re not ready. Then going on to the pitch and then the risk of injury is massive. We’re not robots. Don’t get me wrong, we love playing football. That’s clear.
“It’s about adding more games. City played Sunday and Tuesday and it wasn’t even flexible. It could be moved probably to play Wednesday instead of Tuesday. It’s not flexible. That’s what we’re talking about.
“It’s normal that everyone is at high risk of injury. It’s not fair. Rodri said the right things. We play 50, 60 games and not more than 70 games. When the fixtures come, the players have to play. There’s a lot going on.
“You have the FA and FIFA. Everyone has to take this really seriously. It’s not just random and a few players coming out.
“There’s way too many games and what you want to see is the quality of the games. High quality games with top players. This should be the aim.
“Injuries sometimes come with less games but the possibility of lots of travelling, lots of games, injuries will be higher.”