Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has sounded the alarm about the detrimental effects of a jam-packed fixture calendar on player health. Ahead of his side’s Europa League opener against his boyhood club Twente, ten Hag expressed his concern over the excessive number of matches and the subsequent strain it places on top players.
Ten Hag pointed to England’s league schedule, which recorded the highest number of back-to-back domestic matches among European leagues last season, with Premier League clubs averaging the shortest recovery time between games. Manchester United themselves experienced a particularly short turnaround in November last year, playing Fulham just 64 hours and 15 minutes after their League Cup loss to Newcastle United.
“There are too many games – the top players are overloaded. It is not good for football. Maybe it is good for commercial (reasons),” Ten Hag admitted to reporters. “There is a limit and players are getting injuries. It is almost unavoidable because of the overload of so many games… We are professionals and revenues have to come, but we have to balance this out.”
Ten Hag’s concerns echo those of other prominent figures in football. With the expansion of all three European club competitions to 36 teams, Manchester City midfielder Rodri recently suggested players might even resort to strike action in protest against the excessive workload. In July, FIFPRO, the international football players’ union, filed a complaint with EU antitrust regulators regarding FIFA’s international match calendar.
Despite the concerns, ten Hag remains focused on the task at hand, emphasizing the significance of each match in the new Europa League format. “First we have to take the experience, every match is significant, every goal is significant,” he said. “An opportunity and more roads to achieve the target you want. It is the most difficult (pathway to the Champions League), probably. In a tournament of 36 you have to be the best. It is a target and a road we want to go.”
United’s triumph in the 2017 Europa League under Jose Mourinho adds further weight to the importance of this competition. However, ten Hag acknowledges the bittersweet nature of facing his former club Twente, a team he holds dear. “I would have preferred to play against somebody else. It’s not nice to hurt something you love. Of all the teams, Twente is the team I follow the most,” ten Hag confessed. “I watch them as a fan, as a supporter, not as an analyst. It’s a different way of watching their games. Twente brought me a lot, I was put through their academy, so for me a great deal of history there.”
Despite ten Hag’s emotional attachment to Twente, he is fully focused on leading United to victory in the upcoming fixture. Following their encounter with Twente, Manchester United will face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.
