Fixture congestion is getting ridiculous

It feels like we are reaching the point where squad depth matters more than ever, but that only works if clubs are willing to actually use it. Otherwise the same players just keep getting run into the ground for every competition possible tbh
 
There is a valid argument that elite clubs can cope better because they have bigger squads and more resources. But that does not make the schedule healthy, and it certainly does not help the fans when the product gets worse because everyone is shattered.
 
I was in the pub last night and even the lads who barely watch football were saying the same thing, that it sounds insane to expect players to keep going like this when they already look dead on their feet by the end of the season and then you hear there is another competition or another travel block or another international break thrown in, and the funny thing is none of them were even Arsenal fans they were just looking at it from common sense and saying no normal job would have you doing that much physical work with that little rest so why are we acting like footballers should be different, it is just proper daft and everyone knows it but the money keeps talking
 
The real issue is that the calendar has no obvious pressure valve anymore. If you want more competitions, something else has to be removed, otherwise the load just keeps stacking up.
 
I dont really buy the idea that it all balances out because bigger clubs can build deeper squads, the same core players still end up being relied on in the biggest games and the travel and intensity are still there, so saying it evens out is just ignoring the actual fatigue issue
 
There is a point where rotation stops being a luxury and becomes a necessity. Clubs and governing bodies need to treat that seriously.
 
its mad how everyone knows this is unsustainable but the same people will still pretend the answer is just bigger squads or better rotation when the actual problem is that theres too many competitions and too much travel and nobody wants to give up the money
 
The calendar is clearly built around commercial priorities rather than player welfare. That does not mean clubs are blameless, but the governing bodies have created the pressure cooker in the first place.
 
football executives really looked at exhausted players and said yeah lets add more games lads absolute geniuses
 
you just know somebody in an office is calling this growth while the players are on the floor gasping for air proper joke
 
The referees and officials always get dragged into everything but this is one of the few times where you can actually point at the wider structure and say it is all built to fail, because when players are exhausted the game gets scrappier, the tempo drops, tackles get mistimed and then everyone starts moaning about standards as if the schedule has nothing to do with it, and the officials get forced into impossible situations where every tiny decision is magnified because the football itself is falling apart around them, and yet the people making the fixtures never seem to get the blame, they just keep adding more and more and more and somehow the answer is always to squeeze another match in rather than protect the one thing that actually makes the sport worth watching
 
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