Virgil Van Dijk has claimed that the fixture schedules in England ‘are too busy’ despite the eye-watering wages some players receive in the Premier League.
The Dutchman, who was speaking to reporters ahead of the Netherlands’ game with France tomorrow (as quoted by Fabrizio Romano on X), believes he and other professional footballers need to speak out and ‘contribute to a solution’.
UEFA have added more games to the schedule in recent years with the introduction of the Nations League and our No. 4 is concerned that the health of players is being affected.
🚨 Van Dijk: “In England we believe the schedules are too busy. The players are getting paid well but it should never come at the cost of our health”.
“We keep having to play more and more games. We as players should start saying something about it, contribute to a solution”. pic.twitter.com/BtU38rBO9d
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 12, 2023
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Footballers are paid an incredible amount of money when playing at the highest level but we can understand where our captain is coming from.
The risk of players picking up injuries due to a lack of rest is very real and maybe it is time for governing bodies to do something about it.
Van Dijk is expected to captain the Netherlands against France tomorrow before Ronald Koeman’s side face Greece on Monday.
The Premier League then returns next weekend with Liverpool occupying the lunch-time slot on Saturday October 21 with Everton travelling to Anfield for the first Merseyside derby of the season.
It’ll be interesting to see if anything is done to help the players as this isn’t the first time we’ve heard complaints about the schedule.