Player injuries are at an all-time high, but the football calendar is set to get even busier.
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00:00 The football calendar is packed, which is great for the fans, but with players taking to the pitch more frequently,
00:07 we're also seeing a rise in injuries. So, are footballers playing too often?
00:12 Hello and welcome to Football Now. In the modern day,
00:21 footballers at the highest level are playing more often than ever. Between domestic and international
00:27 football, there are very few weeks in the year where players actually get to rest. The knock-on
00:33 effect has unfortunately been an unprecedented spike in injuries. Premier League clubs in particular
00:40 have been hit hard by injuries this season. Multiple teams have had 10 players or more
00:45 missing at any one time. In the first half of the 2023-24 campaign, the average number of injuries
00:52 per club that forced a player to miss a game was 9.8, according to data tracking from Premier
00:58 Injuries. And overall injuries were up 15% compared to the last four seasons. In the 2022-23 season,
01:06 there were 115 hamstring injuries, eight of which required surgery.
01:11 I would say the short answer to that is yes. Yes, like the more busy the schedule is,
01:17 absolutely we expect more injuries. So, when players are required to play multiple matches
01:25 in a short period of time, their bodies are of course subjected to higher levels of physical
01:31 stress and fatigue. However, I have to say that this is not the only factor here. The nature or
01:38 I would say the intensity of the modern football and rigorous training strategies or regimes and
01:45 also the pressure to perform on football players. So, all of these can play a role. So, at the end
01:51 of the day, it's not an easy mission to be honest. It's a difficult formula. It's a complicated
01:56 formula and we have to find a balance that prioritises first of all the health and well-being
02:02 of the football player, first of all of course, and without compromising as much as possible the
02:08 competitive nature of the game. Despite this data, the football calendar continues to grow.
02:14 Later this year, the Champions League will introduce a new format that involves each team
02:19 playing a minimum of two extra games. Meanwhile, from 2025, FIFA are expanding their Club World Cup
02:27 with elite teams from all over the world competing in an extra 32-team tournament.
02:32 On the face of it, it's a great spectacle for fans, but for the players, the demands on them
02:37 are pushing them to their limit. I think that the player feedback is really important and the
02:43 modern footballer is turning around these days and saying, "We're right at breaking point."
02:48 And that's why if the European Super League was to come in and with the Champions League enhanced
02:54 and with the new expanded Club World Cup in 2025, all of these things are adding more games.
02:59 And every one or two games added might not feel like a lot, but when you add them all up,
03:04 we're getting to the point where someone does what Manchester City did last season,
03:09 which is challenge on all fronts. The total number of games for a player that's needed
03:14 and stays fit could be now as high as 70. And maybe in the future that will be 80 or 90.
03:20 Kylian Mbappe is another good example in the sense that he's playing for PSG, it's his final season.
03:26 He's looking obviously to win domestic silverware and the Champions League. But remember at the end
03:30 of the season, he's got a Euros, then an Olympics, and then in likelihood his first season at Real
03:37 Madrid. And what that means is that summer to summer for Kylian Mbappe could again be close to 80 games.
03:45 Well, having won the Champions League and multiple Premier League titles with Chelsea,
03:50 Mikel John Obi is certainly no stranger to playing multiple times in a week when it comes to crunch
03:56 time in the season. He gave us an insight into how intense that period can really be.
04:02 It's tough, it's tough to have such calendars because I remember when I was at Chelsea,
04:06 we used to play, obviously we used to get always to the later stages of every tournament. So
04:11 Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, that was our calendar every season, it doesn't matter.
04:16 And for us it was so tough because obviously as a player, there's too many games in the season.
04:21 And I think that's something we have to make sure we try to see how we can manage that because
04:25 players play a lot of games, there's too many injuries. I mean, we enjoy it because there's a
04:29 lot of games for us to watch. But I think for the players, yes, definitely they suffer because
04:32 there's too many injuries. And that's something we have to look into.
04:35 Despite having more games in the season to go and watch, the increase in fixtures may actually be
04:41 leaving fans short-changed. Is the quality of football being damaged by the amount of time
04:47 some players are spending on the sidelines? Yeah, the success of everything is reliant upon
04:53 players performing to a high level week in, week out and being available. So you can have two of
05:00 the best teams in the world, but if they're kind of reserve squads out, it's not going to be the
05:04 best game in the world. Some players are phenomenally talented, but have injury issues
05:09 and have to be managed. Yes, they have huge squads, but it's still the main players that
05:13 people want to come and see. So if Erling Haaland's missing through injury on the US tour,
05:18 joined pre-season, then it may have less impact because that's what people want to see. I mean,
05:22 we live in an era, generation where almost the players are taking on the same level of
05:28 importance as the clubs themselves and FIFA and UEFA recognise that. So they try and protect
05:33 these key assets, but in terms of too many games will impede the quality of the product, no doubt.
05:39 A big issue for football then, as injuries in players are at an all-time high,
05:45 just as the fixture calendar is set to expand again. That's all we have time for from our
05:51 studio here in Doha. Do let us know your thoughts using the hashtag #FootballNowInjuries,
05:56 and we'll see you next time. Bye for now.
05:59 [Music]