Soccer players and managers have every right to be concerned about the amount of games they play.
It is not unusual for soccer teams to play 50-70 matches during a season, with instances of playing three or more matches per week. In Germany when teams play multiple times per week, this is often referred to as an “English week”, owing to the fact that this occurs very often across the leagues in England. Following a recent publication from Julian and colleagues on the effects of a congested match schedule on performance in football (Article here ) the research team expanded upon their findings within The Sport and Exercise Scientist (TSES) the official quarterly publication of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.
From the article the authors suggested that soccer players and managers have every right to be concerned about the number of matches they play, particularly when the recovery time between them is limited. There is no easy solution to this issue, but researchers, practitioners and coaches should work together to identify ways of preparing players for these scenarios, including the training methods and recovery strategies used, as well as what tactical adjustments and rotation plans can be made to maintain a high level of performance and reduce injury risk. Beyond aiming to condition players to cope with a congested schedule, practitioners could identify players who exhibit the greatest post-match fatigue response (objective and subjective) or who take longer to fully recover muscle function. These players may then require additional recovery time (e.g. individualised training prescription), recovery strategies (e.g. individualised nutrition) or be rotated by the coaches more frequently during fixture congestion. More research is still required in this area, including measuring changes in high-intensity running, sprint speed, and the number of accelerations and decelerations during fixture congestion. These measures should also be incorporated with tactical performance, including how actions like pressing (attacking players closing down the opposition to try and win the ball back when not in possession) change during a congested schedule. The amount of pressing that teams from the top divisions in Germany, Spain France, England and Italy perform in the middle and attacking thirds of the pitch has reduced by 3-4% during the condensed and congested 2020/21 season compared to previous seasons, possibly due to coaches being conscious of the physical toll this has on their players (The Athletic, 2020). Other research areas include quantifying the impact of substitutions and squad rotation on player recovery, wellness and performance during congested schedules, as well as the impact of nutritional strategies on these variables.
