Daniel Levy explains why Spurs want to play ‘fewer games’ of a ‘higher quality’
Daniel Levy and Ange Postecoglou are both in agreement that there are simply too many matches in the footballing calendar at the moment.
Schedule getting busier
The footballing calendar has continued to grow busier over recent years, with competition such as the Nations League being added.
In addition, UEFA have taken the drastic step to increase the number of matches in the Champions League and the Europa League this season, with both competitions entering a new format.
This has not gone down well with the players, many of whom complain that their bodies are simply not able to compete with this amount of workload (The Athletic).
Postecoglou and Levy are on the same page
When Postecoglou was asked about this in the Tottenham fan forum on Monday, the Australian gave a straightforward answer, insisting that the authorities have no choice but to change things.
When asked about the fact that the schedule keeps getting more and more packed, the Tottenham boss responded (via The Standard): “I think it is getting close to breaking point and if the authorities ignore it, I think the players will take it into their own hands.”
When asked for his own view, Levy said: “I agree there’s too many games. But the problem we have, the particular problem in England is we have an extra cup competition compared to the rest of Europe.
“And in Europe, the most important fixtures for the big teams is European competitions, whereas here we have the Premier League which is the hardest league in the world, yet we still want to do well in Europe. So it’s a particular problem for the English teams and I do think it’s a problem.
“The friendlies for the international tournaments is another problem, particularly for someone like Sonny [Spurs captain Heung-min Son] who has to travel so far for his country. I think it’s a FIFA issue that’s going to have to be compromised with UEFA but I do have a lot of sympathy for the players.
“As a club, we would like to see less games but higher-quality games. So if that means we have to see some changes in some of our competitions, then so be it. I think in the end that’s in the long-term interest of the players.”
Tottenham’s upcoming challenge
Irrespective of what Postecoglou or Levy might want, it does not seem like UEFA or FIFA are going to act anytime soon and Tottenham will have to deal with an extremely congested fixture list over the next few months.
With the club set to kick off their Europa League campaign this Thursday against Qarabag, they could potentially play 13 games until the end of November if they progress to the quarterfinal stage of the Carabao Cup.
Postecoglou’s squad would thus get severely tested and the Australian would have to rotate to avoid a repeat of the injury crisis that Spurs suffered last year.
The post Daniel Levy explains why Spurs want to play ‘fewer games’ of a ‘higher quality’ appeared first on Spurs Web.