Back in mid-September, the leader of “Manchester City” Rodra, who later became the owner of the Golden Ball-2024, appeared in the press with a resonant statement that it was time for the organizers to think about reducing the number of matches held by top-level players during the season. The Spaniard did not even begin to choose his words diplomatically, but directly stated that a strike is quite possible!
“I think we are close to a strike. And it’s easy to understand, ask any player, not only I have such an opinion. If this continues with the calendar, there will be no second release. 40-50 matches in a season is the amount when you can prove yourself at a good level. And when there are 70-80 matches, it becomes impossible. The level of football is also falling. And if the fans want to see a game of higher quality, then the football players need rest,” said Rodry.
The key football body of the continent – the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) – reacted quickly to these words. In particular, then the legendary player of the national team of Portugal, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and now the adviser to the UEFA president Luis Figo, who emphasized that the reduction in the number of matches will inevitably lead to a reduction in the salaries of key players, came into the public domain. the latter are obviously not ready to go at all.
“We have to see what solution will be the best. But it is a fact that there are more and more matches. This whole situation resembles a snowball. The more matches, the more football players’ contracts. If there will be fewer matches, the salaries of the players will also be reduced,” Figu said.
It would seem that an exchange of opinions took place, and each of the parties (top footballers and organizers) indicated their position, but made it clear that they were not ready to take any drastic measures yet. However, the players, as it seems, still decided to take their small step first – they began to refuse to play for their national teams in the League of Nations.
It can be said that everything started back in October, when the head coach of the French national team, Didier Deschamps, unexpectedly did not release Kylian Mbappe, the leader of the “tricolor” attacks, to the national team. Then a lot was said about the forward’s minor health problems and the reluctance of the player and the coach to take risks, but a little later, just when the French were playing their League of Nations match against Israel (4:1), journalists spotted Mbappe in one of Stockholm’s night clubs, after which In the mass media and among the fans, there was an uproar about Kylian’s behavior and his attitude to the national team.
Then, in October, Mbappe’s reluctance to go to the French national team did not yet look like something tendentious. It was not seen as such even when Kylian did not get into the application of the “three colors” for the November matches of the League of Nations, because the press talked about the forward’s alleged reluctance to play for the national team at all due to the deterioration of relations with the head coach. They say, it is almost not a banal conflict between a coach and a player, but it is not in Mbappe’s desire to save as much energy as possible for club tournaments, putting the national team’s interests in a known losing position.
But when, after Mbappé was not called up to the French national team again, news broke about the reluctance of a number of top footballers to go to their national teams for the upcoming League of Nations games, it became obvious that the matter really smelled of the same strike that Rodry had openly warned about before UEFA officials.
In particular, back in October, Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Roma forward Romelu Lukaku refused to go to the Belgian national team. Both previously talked with the head coach of the national team, Domenico Tedesco, and in general agreed that nothing terrible would happen, and on the contrary, a few additional days for rest would only benefit the players themselves, and the coach would get the opportunity to see the nearest reserve in action.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Kevin De Bruyne is in no hurry to help the Belgian national team Lukaku was called up to the national team for the November matches, but De Bruyne was still left out of the squad, which, together with the football player’s problematic physical readiness, gave rise to rumors about Kevin’s possible imminent departure from Manchester City and European football in general. to a calmer place from the point of view of loads – for example, to the overseas MLS.
The Danish legionnaire of “Arsenal” Martyn Edegore also decided not to go to his national team. Formally, the reason is quite understandable – the reluctance to risk the player after he barely returned from the infirmary. But in fact, everything looks a little different, since before the break for the matches of the national teams, Edehor managed to play two matches in November for the Gunners. And if on November 6, the Dane appeared only as a substitute in the Champions League match against Inter (0:1), spending only one minute on the field, then on November 10, Martin played a full EPL match against Chelsea (1:1), in who even distinguished himself with a productive pass. And, you will agree, it is somewhat strange against this background that it speaks of the midfielder’s unwillingness to perform at the top level for the national team, because then what is one of the key matches of the English elite division against the “blues”, for which Edegor had enough strength?
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Martyn Edegore misses the matches of Norway The situation showed its true essence even more when the England national team was short of eight main performers for the next two matches of the League of Nations against Greece and Ireland. The “Three Lions” will not be able to count on Cole Palmer, Levy Coluill, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Aaron Ramsdale, Declan Rice and Bukayo Sak.
Formally, many of them have health issues, but this did not prevent Rice and Sak from playing in the recent match against Chelsea, even though they were both replaced in the end. Moreover, in England, many experts and observers are sure that there is no such thing as a serious injury in the same Sac, and the current maneuver is only a desire to technically avoid public condemnation in a situation when the football player did not go to the national team, striving get a little more time for rest.
In fact, we may not even be talking about rest, but simply a banal respite. Because there are really so many matches and tournaments in the modern calendar of top clubs that football players are obliged to protect themselves in order to at least somehow minimize the possibility of receiving serious injuries – such as the rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the knee, which the key center back of “Real” recently faced Eder Militao.
It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian national team also has its own very interesting case, which cannot be mentioned will not be mentioned in the aspect of the raised topic. This is the situation with the non-call to the team for the November matches of the goalkeeper of “Real” Andrey Lunin. Formally, it was reported in the press that the goalkeeper will not come to the location of the “blue-yellow” due to family circumstances, and specifically – due to health problems of his wife. At the same time, the latter do not prevent Lunin from continuing to train in the “Blancos”, which now turned out to be extremely cut due to the departure of most of the performers to their national teams…
It is obvious that not all top footballers are ready to negotiate with coaches and de facto ask the team to imitate injuries or cite other reasons. There are those who continue to believe that being called up to the national team, even for a friendly match, is a huge honor and responsibility. For example, the English top scorer of “Bavaria” Harry Kane directly stated the following: “I think that England is above everything. England is above the club. The national team is the most important thing you play for as a professional footballer, and Gareth [Саутгейт] was convinced of this and was not afraid to make decisions if, you know, it went against the will of some players. To be honest, it’s me [отсутствие в стане «Трех львов» целого ряда ключевых игроков на ноябрьские матчи Лиги наций] I don’t really like it. I think, as I just said, England is more important than any club situation.”
However, UEFA already has a good reason to think about what else football players can do to achieve their goal. And in such a situation, the cabinet bosses will not have any trump cards at hand – they, like the fans, will simply be told that this is the coach’s decision, or that the player is simply not ready due to an injury. After all, many players have learned to deftly “draw” violations of the rules against them on the field, which the referees buy, and now, apparently, we are witnessing a new trend when top players begin to massively avoid participating in frankly “extra” matches for them , which do not carry any significant career benefit or competitive burden.
And now it will be extremely interesting to see what Louis Figu will say about such an “invention” of his followers. And also – it will be no less interesting to wait for the reaction of FIFA, in which the club world championship is scheduled for the next year in an updated format, to put it mildly, which does not excite the majority of Europe’s top clubs. Formally, the participants there have already been obliged to field the strongest teams, but after all, we all understand very well that such a requirement can be easily, or even cynically, circumvented if desired, at least by referring to one or another problems of football players with health, family life, etc. .p. If the concept of “hybrid war” already exists in the modern world, then why can’t we talk about something like a “hybrid strike”, when its participants achieve their goals not by direct demands and actions, but, so to speak, by roundabout methods…
Source: sport.ua