Dejan Lovren has become the latest player to express his disdain for the number of fixtures being played during a compressed season amid a global pandemic.
A delayed end to 2019/20, plus the rescheduling of Euro 2020 to next summer, means clubs and nations are squeezing in extra fixtures this term including another three international games across the two-week break this month.
Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos recently expressed his anger with UEFA and FIFA treating players like “puppets” and former Liverpool defender Lovren says he was right to ask for change, saying “many other managers said the same thing over and over” and that those in charge of scheduling matches were refusing to listen.
Taking to Twitter to post his thoughts, Lovren laid out clearly the issue players are facing in 20/21.
“People wondering why there is so many injuries, it’s simple,” he wrote.
"Too many games, impossible to recover, when you know that this year is a weird one (Covid). No proper time off, (personally I had only eight days off) no proper pre-season and [then] the crazy schedule!
“People who write and decide the schedule of matches should think about this topic.”
As well as Kroos and Lovren, other players have begun to speak out over the volume of matches and travel expected of them.
Ajax veteran and former Manchester United defender Daley Blind echoed the thoughts of Dutch team-mate Frenkie de Jong in saying the Netherlands’ friendly against Spain was unnecessary.
Jose Gaya and Hans Hateboer suffered a head clash in the game, while Manchester City’s Nathan Ake departed with a hamstring injury and Liverpool’s Joe Gomez has suffered a serious knee injury in training with England.
