da wazamba： Youngsters are playing more minutes than ever before, resulting in an increase in injuries to the likes of Gavi and Vinicius Junior

da cassino： Jurgen Klopp is acutely aware he has a reputation for whining, particularly when it comes to the fixture list, but he couldn't help himself. While he should have been talking about a vital victory over Brentford on November 11, Klopp felt compelled to bring up the fact that Liverpool's first game after the international break would be a top-of-the-table Premier League clash with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

"How can you put a game like this on a Saturday at 12.30pm?" the German asked reporters at Anfield. "Honestly, the people making these decisions, they cannot feel football. It is just not possible… These two teams have probably 30 international players altogether. And they all come back in the same plane by the way, the South Americans all on the same plane [will] fly back together. We pick them up [from] Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia – one plane and then we arrive here. It's really mad."

And it is. Whether one likes Klopp or not, he's right: the sport's major power-brokers don't feel football. It's not about emotion for them, it's about money, meaning player welfare is utterly irrelevant.

Which is bizarre, really, because if players are tired, the product suffers. But then, it's long been clear that the game's governing bodies and the biggest broadcasters are more interested in quantity than quality. More games means more revenue – it's that simple.

Getty'This game is just a money game'

Thibaut Courtois called it a couple of years ago after Belgium were beaten by Italy in a third-place play-off in the UEFA Nations League – a game that his compatriots Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku were forced to skip because of muscle fatigue.

"This game is just a money game and we have to be honest about it," the visibly fed-up goalkeeper told reporters. "We just play it because it's extra money for UEFA. Look at how much both teams changed [line-ups]. If both teams would have been in the final, there would have been other players playing.

"Next year we have a World Cup in November, we have to play maybe until the latter stages of June again. Three weeks of holiday is not enough for players to be able to continue for 12 months at the highest level. We will get injured."

Sadly, he couldn't have been more correct: less than a year after competing in Qatar, he left Real Madrid training in tears after tearing his ACL.

AdvertisementGetty Images'I feel like I'm suffocating'

The ludicrous decision to place the World Cup in the middle of the European season took a serious toll on the game's top players. As Howden's 2022-23 Men's European Football Injury Index revealed last week, players from the continent's 'Big Five' leagues who participated in the World Cup in Qatar took, on average, eight days longer to recover from injuries after the tournament compared to before – and that was primarily because of a massive increase in severe injuries, to the ankle (170 percent), calf/shin (200%) and hamstring (130%).

Not that FIFPRO, the organisation that represents professional players, was in the least bit surprised. They had pointed out before the World Cup had even kicked-off that teams had been given an average of 31 days of preparation time before the previous seven tournaments, and 37 days of recovery time after. However, players were given, on average, just seven days to get themselves physically and mentally ready for Qatar 2022, and only eight days to recuperate before resuming their club campaigns.

FIFPRO subsequently revealed that 44% of the players who participated in the World Cup experienced more physical fatigue, while 23% felt more mental fatigue in January compared to other seasons. France defender Raphael Varane even decided to walk away from international football in February, while still only 29 years of age. "We have overloaded schedules and play non-stop," he said. "Right now, I feel like I'm suffocating."

Getty'Why are our opinions not being heard?'

Hardly surprising, then, that Varane was disgusted by the Premier League's decision to implement the strict time-keeping strategy deployed at the World Cup that saw the average amount of injury time increase from 7.3 minutes to 11.6 minutes.

"From the managers and players, we have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it's at a dangerous level for players' physical and mental well-being," Varane wrote on social media.

"Despite our previous feedback, they have now recommended for next season: longer games, more intensity, and less emotions to be shown by players. We just want to be in good condition on the pitch to give 100 percent to our club and fans. Why are our opinions not being heard?"

Getty UEFA 'gets it'?…

UEFA insists it is listening. As well as formally recognising football fans as central stakeholders in the game in January of this year, Europe's governing body also decided against adapting the World Cup approach to stoppages.

UEFA's chief of football, the former Croatia international Zvonomir Boban, told reporters in Monaco in August: "I can speak from my experience, especially as a midfielder – when you get tired, it's the last 30 minutes of the game. And now somebody comes and adds another 15 minutes! "How often have we spoken critically about the calendar and too many games? We are not listening to players and coaches… It's crazy. It's too much, so we will not do this. Our guidelines are different."

England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief Maheta Molango said that Boban's comments showed that when it comes to protecting players, the former AC Milan ace just "gets it".