Unai Emery highlighted this as a “serious” problem ahead of Aston Villa’s clash with Brentford.
Unai Emery has called for a change to the workload placed on professional footballers hours before Aston Villa’s clash against Brentford.
The Premier League returned this weekend after a three-week break, and many managers saw some of their players suffer injuries while on international duty.
Liverpool were arguably dealt the most crushing news of all top-flight clubs after Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo suffered setbacks for Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively, and will now miss Sunday’s showdown with Manchester City.
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Unai Emery wants the footballing schedule to be changed
Cole Palmer made the headlines for pulling out of England’s squad during the break due to load management and suffering a minor groin problem.
Thomas Tuchel questioned Palmer’s commitment to the international setup, citing that the Chelsea playmaker “misses too many opportunities” before the Three Lions lost 3-2 against Spain.
But the decision to not include the 24-year-old was arguably sensible, and Unai Emery agrees with the move to protect players from excessive workloads, while suggesting that the footballing calendar deserves “serious attention”.
“Some coaches have been very vocal about the demands of the football calendar & the importance of protecting players from excessive workloads,” Emery said before Aston Villa’s home clash against Brentford. “It is a concern that deserves serious attention.”
The Spaniard then praised Germany head coach Jurgen Klopp and ordered other managers to follow in his footsteps after he used a massive 44-player squad to experiment across their Nations League matches.
“We have to think about players’ health and well-being,” Emery continued. “We try to do that at club level, and I think some national team managers are setting a good example (Emery thinks Klopp is one). Hopefully others follow that lead.”
A packed fixture schedule after a summer of gruelling World Cup action has only made several players susceptible to injuries, especially those who went deep into the tournament.
Emery wants a solution to the strain being put on players, and he isn’t the only one who shares this viewpoint.
PFA chief wants change to footballing schedule
PFA chief Maheta Molango hit out at Tuchel’s comments on Palmer, highlighting that the football calendar has become unsustainable and has become more of a survival of the fittest.
Speaking at the FIF Pro Performance Summit in London, Molango said: “When England see five players who need to withdraw when the single most proud moment a player has is to be called up for the national team, you just ask yourself, what’s wrong with the industry?
“You see people like Cole Palmer, someone who would have played four consecutive summers in a row had he gone to the World Cup, and you wonder why is he missing?
“He’s missing because he’s a victim of the calendar, and that’s something that needs to absolutely trigger the alarm bells.”
Molango then commented on the injury pile-up during the break and suggested a mandatory three-week summer break and a three-week “retraining” period every summer.
“Is that really the football that we want?” he questioned. “Is it the football where the people who make us dream just cannot perform? For me it’s very worrying.
“What we’ve seen over the last few years is a system that’s sick, that’s ill, because it ultimately revolves around obtaining votes and power consolidation.”
