Eder Militao’s scream as he tore a cruciate ligament in his knee for the second time in just over a year reverberated around the Bernabeu earlier this month. It also reverberated around the men’s football world as the horror of the player workload crisis was laid bare.
His Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said: “The demands of the schedule sometimes do not allow players to get the rest they need, and that increases the risk of injuries. It is a problem for everyone, not just us.”
The Brazil defender, who has now felt the dreaded snap in both knees, is just one victim of the scourge of too much football. Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany has tried to alleviate the problem as best he can by allowing his non-international players such as Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller to take a rare week off during this month’s round of Nations League group games.
Ancelotti has also hinted he may find a way to give players individual breaks during the season, but experts disagree on the benefits.
Alexander Bielefeld, director of Policy & Strategic Relations for Men’s Football at world players’ union FIFPRO, told DW: “Coaches and players are having to take emergency rest periods, whenever possible, because governance and regulation is missing when it comes to the match calendar; there is also a failure in the duty of care to players.
“These ad hoc player breaks, caused by creeping exhaustion and burnout, undermine national team football and damage club competitions because players are consistently at different levels of fitness and performance.”
But Dr. Tom Brownlee, associate professor in Applied Sports Sciences at the University of Birmingham in the UK, likes the idea.
“Giving players a full week off during a demanding season is quite an unconventional approach, but it’s grounded in solid recovery science,” he said.
“In recent years, there’s been growing awareness that player workloads have intensified to the point where overuse injuries, mental fatigue, and reduced performance can be serious risks. Short breaks allow players’ bodies to reset, reducing cumulative fatigue and potentially staving off injuries.”
Football at a tipping point
Nine England players pulled out of their Nations League squad because of various aches and pains. Captain Harry Kane was unusually blunt: “I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation.”
He inferred players were taking advantage of the international break to recharge their batteries for club football. The fact interim coach Lee Carsley is making way for Thomas Tuchel in January has been seen by the media as a reason players have skipped this squad.
But can they be blamed for trying to find a way out?
World governing body FIFA is facing legal action from players’ union FIFPRO about the packed schedule. FIFPRO and leagues have also sent a complaint to the European Commission about FIFA’s conflict of interest as competition organizer and governing body.
Spain and Manchester City star Rodri even raised the prospect of a strike before being ironically ruled out for the season with a knee ligament tear, hobbling on crutches to the stage to pick up his Ballon d’Or. Bayern’s France defender Dayot Upamecano said recently: “A strike? Why not? There are too many games.”
Experts say players might retire in their 20s due to the burden of so many games. Fans need only look at Kylian Mbappe, a shadow of his former self since moving to Real Madrid having played almost non-stop football since he was 18. The 2018 World Cup winner was left out of the latest France squad even though he was not injured. Didier Deschamps simply gave him a break, saying it had nothing to do with reports the striker is being investigated over an alleged rape in Sweden, which Mbappe denies.
RB Leipzig coach Marco Rose, whose side are part of this season’s expanded Champions League which has shrunk the famed German mid-season break to next to nothing, perhaps summed it up best.
“The burden is frankly more than borderline,” he said. “For me, there are clear links between injuries at Real Madrid, Manchester City, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and many other clubs. The frequency of games for international players – it’s too much.”
Shorter pre-season club jaunts?
An obvious way clubs can help is to cut down on pre-season tours to far flung places and put player welfare ahead of lucrative income.
“The health of the players must always take precedence over economic interests,” Ulf Baranowsky, head of the German players’ union VDV, told DW.
“Good load management is also important… because only fit and rested players can deliver top performances. Are players given sufficient recovery time or are injured players sent back into competition prematurely with the use of painkillers?”
Bigger changes might only come if FIFA loses to FIFPRO in the courts or at the European Commission, but that could take years. Some sort of body to oversee the football calendar and make sure there are breaks for players is a dream for unions.
The calendar is planned 5-6 years in advance – with Euro 2024, an expanded 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup happening each June-July consecutively. With club seasons from August to May, no one is taking responsibility for player well-being.
Formula 1 offers exhausted footballers hope. There is a governing body for rules (FIA) and a separate arm organizing races (F1).
If the European Commission also forces football at some point to carry out a similar split, progress could be made on the punishing calendar. Until then, its seems it is down to small acts of mercy from the likes of Vincent Kompany.
Edited by: Chuck Penfold
