Eriksen’s collapse raised another question. Are footballers overworked? And how to stop it?

When Christian Eriksen collapsed unconscious on the ground in the game against Finland, more than one fan was shaken. Of course, everyone wishes the Danish footballer a speedy recovery, but it also raised the question of how to prevent similar situations.

Of course, until we know what exactly caused Eriksen’s collapse, it’s pointless to speculate. It could also have been a hidden heart defect that would not have shown up in normal life, but unfortunately appeared due to physical overload.

Anyway, it is a fact that professional footballers are extremely overworked. League, cups, European cups, national teams, championships, transfers, all almost without a break. In winter, footballers don’t get a moment’s rest, in summer they often have to take one or two weeks off. And that’s not enough.

The Covid period has tightened the belts of the fixture list even more, there is such a rush to finish everything in time. The organisers treat the footballers like robots, but no one looks after their health. After all, this was one of the reasons why Florentino Pérez wanted to push through the infamous Super League. To make the players miss games because they are too overworked.

And this year’s edition is really extreme. The players have been going for a year straight without a summer or winter break. That’s an incredible strain on both the body and the head.

Look at Bruno Fernandes. He’s played an alarming 68 games this season! In the vast majority of them he has played a full match, and he is yet to play a full match at the EURO, where he has at least 3 more games in one week. On top of all this, the constant travelling on the plane, the training sessions, the load is also mental as the player has to be ready with his head at all times.

Luka Modrić has played an incredible 61 games at the age of 35. Again, in the vast majority we are talking about a complete 90-minute workload. By the end of the season, the fatigue was taking a huge toll on him, with his running performance hitting 70% of his peak. Rest? A flight to Croatia and he immediately started preparing with the team for the EURO.

And the worst part was yet to come. Once the players have played the European Championships, they would deserve at least a month and a half off for a tough season. But that’s not an option as the new season starts soon. Often, footballers will get a week or two off and return to training with the club.

Moreover, if a player is injured, it doesn’t really mean that he will rest. A rehabbing footballer works much harder than a healthy player 99% of the time. Not infrequently he is in the training centre from morning till night to get himself back together as quickly as possible.

But how to solve this problem? It certainly wouldn’t hurt to reduce the number of games, whether in leagues or European cups. Indeed, professional footballers are often seen as a means of generating huge amounts of money. But they are also just people.

The question often arises in society as to why footballers take millions a month. Perhaps here is the answer, because this physical and mental strain would not be endured by 90% of mortals. Moreover, players are extremely often separated from their families and loved ones, spending most of their time in a bubble on the pitch or in hotels.

Source: Livesport