Category: Open Spurs Updates

The vibrant start made by Haaland and Salah to the new season highlights the importance of proper rest in a crowded calendar, say PFA and FIFPRO. Haaland, 7 goals in 3 PL games, and Salah 3 in 3 were not involved in international competitions over the summer. They contrast that with current sidelining of Jude Bellingham and Foden, who both had intense summers at the Euros.

“Haaland and Mo are fresh versus Bellingham who’s already suffered a muscular injury and Foden who’s already being rested three games in.” So says Darren Burgess, FIFPRO adviser and ex #LFC and #AFC performance coach. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

The domestic and international players’ unions are calling on Fifa and Uefa to “urgently intervene and establish regulations and collective procedures that protect player welfare”, adding the “cannibalisation of the competition calendar is pushing players beyond their limits”. Foden could conceivably play 83 games in 2025/26 with the extended World Cup.

Burgess noted that Bellingham played five times as many games as Beckham by the age of 21. “The Beckham-Bellingham figure is probably the scariest part because in any other workplace, there would be safeguards around people of this age.

“These athletes are still growing and we’re putting them under more and more load which generally leads to injury. The more explosive players are at much higher risk. If you think of a No 8 like a Bellingham who makes runs deep into the box at high speed, (there’s) more risk for injury.”

PFA ceo Maheta Molango has been touring the country talking to players like Haaland. “It’s very nice to go to a dressing room and hear someone saying to you, ‘I was missing being back, I was missing being able to train again and I’m pumped up and motivated I’m here’. Now you see the result, he’s back to the machine we saw when he first joined us in England. It’s very similar to Mo. He had the proper rest and you can see again he’s the best version of Mo which is fantastic. The feedback of the people who’ve not had their rest is they look shattered, they looked tired even before they started the season which is very worrying. This season will be the defining season, it’s not a harmonious calendar. The Club World Cup clearly demonstrates we’ve now reached a tipping point.”

A review of 1500 players by @Football_BM@twitter.com revealed that 54% are exposed to “risk factors of excessive or high workload demands”. 31% played 55+ matches last season. Molango wants the authorities to act. “50-60 games depending on your age, maximum number of games back-to-back (2 games or more a week) 5-6, and minimum amount of rest in the summer. You tell us. But these are the red lines. Let’s protect the show. See how they can fit within the madness.”

The report highlights Alvarez’s 75 appearances and 83 match-day squad inclusions (ie 8 not playing) and Foden’s “72 appearances but 77 matches with squad inclusion”. It all adds up. Burgess: “If you look at Foden coming off the bench for 7 minutes you think, ‘well that’s not so much’ but the game might be a 8pm European game or midweek cup fixture, he’s had to travel potentially internationally. For seven minutes of match play, Foden would experience the total stress involved with the travel, sleep disruption, training the next day. Mental stress equals physical stress equals poor performance and injury risk.” It’s not simply playing time that drains. Romero covered 100,000 miles in professional travel last season.

“The domestic calendar is not the issue,” Molango emphasises. “It’s important to protect the domestic calendar, and the domestic pyramid. This is the bread and butter of our players because ultimately the big portion of their money comes from the TV contract. Also it is something they very strongly feel about. 90% of England players at the Euros have been in the pyramid. Kane in League One. Kyle Walker Sheffield United.” It’s about tackling the expansion of European competition, the World Cup and the Club World Cup.

As for the possibility of strike action, which has been discussed by some players, David Terrier of FIFPRO says, “The last possibility is we no play. Maybe it is the last solution but we don’t want. We want to protect the spectacle. It is difficult for a player to say enough is enough I don’t play. They want to play all the games. They love football.” They’re well-paid but some are definitely overplayed. And the show is damaged if the stars are injured.

(Via Henry Winter)

@spurs