The schedule across the football world has affected the health of young stars. The hectic schedule that world soccer players are put through should be looked at closely, due to the health and mental issues brought by it.
Most football careers are characterized by injuries, and a player’s success is often decided by the injuries. The player who succeeds at football is not only because of their abundant talent and hard work they put into their career but also the amount or severity of injuries that they suffer throughout their career.
The schedule should go beyond just making money and they should start caring for the players. Lately teams like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Tottenham have reported at least five or more injuries.
“I think it’s just an overload, nothing serious. They [the organizers] should think a little more about the players,” Jules Kounde a defender for FC Barcelona and one of the many players affected by the overwhelming schedule said. There are a lot of matches. We are sliding down a crazy path, wanting to play so many matches. But those at the top are obviously not worried.”
A young soccer player’s career should not be ruined by the hectic schedule that is driven by money. Pedro González López, more commonly known as Pedri, a current football player for FC Barcelona has faced the issues brought by the schedule.
73 games. López played more games than anyone else in the 2020/22 season. The 73 games played were not just his games for FC Barcelona but also for the Spanish National Team in the Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics. He played one more game than Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United.
López has been a player with injury problems. The physical injuries are the ones that appeared to be the most common but we don’t know how much mentality that has affected them, since there aren’t many reports of it. In López’s case the viewers were able to see both mental and physical health after he played more than 70 games in less than a year, at a professional level.
As 2024 approaches the players are set to even play more games than this year because of the major international tournaments this upcoming summer. The Euro 2024 will be hosted in Germany, and features big international teams such as France, Portugal, Germany, England, Italy are part of. Additionally, another big tournament, the Copa America, will be hosted here in the U.S.
To address all the issues created by a hectic schedule, football governing bodies and clubs should consider implementing measures to guard the wellbeing of young soccer players. They should adopt more player-friendly schedules to provide adequate recovering time and promote the importance of mental health.
