After Pep Guardiola in England, it’s now the turn of Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, and Xavi, the coach of FC Barcelona, to criticize the grueling football schedule and the new rules that extend injury time.
“They are trying to improve the quality of the spectacle by adding more minutes of play, more matches. Yet, it’s simple: to enhance quality, you need to decrease the quantity a bit,” Carlo Ancelotti stated during a press conference of Real Madrid, as reported by RMC Sport on Friday.
He further adds, “But the problem is that coaches and players don’t have a say. Football is not managed the way it should be. They want to add more matches to make more money. Players suffer more injuries. They can’t showcase their qualities to the fullest. There are very good players who are tired, injured, etc. When will it change? I don’t know.”
A strong outcry from Carlo Ancelotti, who is not the only one with such thoughts in La Liga. Also in a press conference on Friday, FC Barcelona’s coach Xavi expressed similar sentiments. “I agree with Guardiola, the other day he complained and rightly so. I think we are not thinking about the players but about business,” judged the Catalan coach.
And when asked whether a strike is necessary to bring about change, Xavi believed that “it’s up to the footballers to decide.” What is clear is that discontent is growing more and more among the football participants. The governing bodies will have to react to prioritize the well-being of players over economic considerations.
