Nov 19,2024
Analysis: The demands of the modern game and an overloaded calendar are having a serious impact on players' wellbeing and performance
By Wasim Ahmed, University of Hull and Ronnie Das, The University of Western Australia
For some professional soccer players, the ultimate sporting honour is to play – and hopefully win – for their country. A place in the international squad is highly prized and hard fought for. But for the men's England team, perhaps some of the shine has come off. Captain Harry Kane has openly criticised his fellow players for excusing themselves from international duty before matches in November 2024 against Greece and Ireland.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
A total of nine players ruled themselves out, including Cole Palmer (Chelsea) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), who both withdrew from the squad citing injuries. Of course, injured players cannot perform as well as they or their fans might wish, but the implication seems to be that the players are not prioritising the national team.
Yet data suggests that fans – and Kane – should maybe give those players the benefit of the doubt. For the demands of the modern game in an overloaded calendar are having a serious impact on players' wellbeing and performance. One official review indicates a rise of 11% in player injuries in the Premier League during the 2023-24 season compared to the previous one. Aside from the physical damage, those injuries (most of which occur during the first half of the game) cost Premier League clubs £266 million on salaries for players who were unable to play.
The new Champions League format has also introduced controversy in terms of the additional number of games it demands. Under the new system, teams are required to play eight first-round matches instead of six. Some will then need to play additional play-off games to reach the round of 16.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
While some analysis concludes that there has been no significant increase recently in the number of matches played at club level, it can be a different story for individual players called up by their country. A report by FIFPro, which represents 65,000 professional footballers across the world, suggests the difference for national team players is stark. According to its calculations, a club player who participated in Euro 2024 spent 88% of their days that season on footballing commitments. For a player who didn't take part in the European tournament, it was 81%.
The same report cites experts who believe that 25 to 39 matches should be considered as a "moderate" workload over a season, and that players should not participate in more than 55. This season, a star player like Phil Foden (Manchester City and England) is expected to play a total of 77.
Footballers too have been vocal about the demands they face. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid and Spain) has argued that it is impossible to play more than 70 games a season at full capacity. Manchester City (and Spain) midfielder Rodrigo Hernández (Rodri) claimed that players were seriously contemplating strike action. A few weeks after making that statement he suffered a serious injury which is expected to see him sidelined for the rest of the season.
From Sky News, the head of the Professional Footballers' Association says the welfare of players is being put at risk by an increasingly congested football calendar
Of course, there may be some who struggle to sympathise with the work load of extremely well paid players. It is important to recognise that players at this elite level are athletes who put huge strain on their bodies, under extreme pressure. The governing bodies responsible for the sport and its players should be mindful of this. The impact of travel, different time zones and mental burnout should all be taken into account to protect the players' health.
Squad depth is extremely important in protecting players career longevity, but clubs are restricted by financial regulations. Meanwhile, FIFPro has filed legal claims against Fifa for alleged violation (through its calendar of fixtures) of players' fundamental employment rights including freedom of work and healthy working conditions.
For football more generally, acting to improve players' wellbeing will not only increase performance levels and career longevity, but also likely improve the quality and competitiveness of major tournaments. If England – or any other side – crash out of tournaments because key players are injured, the responsibility should be borne at a higher level rather than on the shoulders of hardworking athletes.
Wasim Ahmed is Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Hull. Ronnie Das is Associate Professor in Data Analytics at The University of Western Australia. This article was originally published by The Conversation.
