Soccer news: England manager Thomas Tuchel claims 'huge' advantage for two Premier League clubs
The Club World Cup is set to take effect on Saturday, June 14, with England boss Thomas Tuchel chiming in on the impact the tournament may have on next season’s Premier League title challenge.
With both of the top two Premier League teams this season, Liverpool and Arsenal, not featuring in the tournament this year - Tuchel claims it gives them a “huge” edge over challengers Manchester City and Chelsea in the upcoming title race.
Sports News Blitz’s Aidan Leo weighs in on the England manager’s comments.
Impact of the Club World Cup
Both Man City and Chelsea are set to feature in no fewer than three games, with seven games at a maximum if either team are to win the tournament.
Tuchel claims that this level of output in the aftermath of a tiring, physically and mentally draining season could have a significant effect in next season’s battle for Premier League glory.
The England boss said: “I think it [the Club World Cup] will have a huge impact and it will give Liverpool and Arsenal a huge advantage in the next season to not be there.”
“I think it will be a very nice experience for the players who are there, to play this tournament for the first time. So it is mixed feelings about it.”
“After a long season, they feel the tiredness. Harry [Kane] said he felt like coming [to England's training camp] after one week would have been much harder.”
“It was easier to come after two weeks. It gave him a kind of refreshment, and there were many players who came back after one week, and they said ‘Ah, we were just getting into holiday mode, and now we put the boots back on.’”
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Player welfare
Despite the effect of the Premier League in particular, which is widely recognised as one of, if not the most physically taxing league in Europe, players are still vying for places and are hopeful for success internationally and in the Club World Cup - for those that are participating.
“They all want to play,” says Tuchel.
“There is not one player who says they want to be on the bench and save themselves for the Club World Cup. They are hungry to play.”
“The games are not the problem. It's just the amount of time it occupies with the players, and they need some rest in this calendar, which they hardly get.”
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Fair or foul
Overall, I would say Tuchel’s comments on the effect of the players playing too much football is fair.
It is fair to deduce that the physical and mental aspect of modern day football can be severe.
With the growing nature of commercialisation and money in circulation in modern day football, players have become robotic to please the idea of supposed ‘growth’ of the game worldwide, rather than to inspire and birth a modern ‘beautiful game’, through creativity, skills, and expression.
All of which are the core fundamentals the game is built on.
The twisted irony is that players are expected to play consistently, despite the mental and physical toll, but frowned upon for expressing themselves and their personalities.
The idea of ‘efficiency over technical ability’ is killing modern day football. I believe this is involuntarily where Tuchel’s comments stem from.
If players don’t produce numbers, they’re criticized heavily, but how could they possibly add to a statsheet consistently, when their bodies and minds cannot keep up with the unrealistic physical expectations put on them for commercial gain.
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