1 year ago
172 Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says he’s baffled that Virgil van Dijk is getting criticism for his comments on player welfare and fixture congestion.
The Dutchman had his say on how players are being forced to play an insane amount of games every year. That is clearly taking a toll on their bodies and injuries have increased as a result. Carragher has completely agreed with Van Dijk – despite criticism from others in the game.
Jamie Carragher reacts to criticism towards Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk
Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk is among a few top-class stars who have voiced their opinions on fixture congestion and the negative impact it has on the players.
For those who missed it, Van Dijk urged fellow footballers to do something about the number of games they play. He even claimed that players’ wages and the amount of games they play should not be dependent on each other.
The £220,000-a-week (Spotrac) star received a ton of criticism following his comments. Premier League legend Alan Shearer went as far as branding the Liverpool defender’s words as ‘nonsense’ on the Rest is Football podcast. Simon Jordan then called him ‘self-indulgent‘.
Jamie Carragher has now leapt to Van Dijk’s defence and has claimed that he’s baffled by people disagreeing with the Dutchman’s comments.
He wrote in The Telegraph: “I applaud Van Dijk for saying this. I am baffled that anyone disagrees.
“The expanding workload for top-class internationals is ridiculous and relentless, with expanding international competitions like the Uefa Nations League and a revamped Fifa Club World Cup on the horizon.
“Those saying congestion is eased by a ‘bigger squad’, or justified because of the high footballers’ wages, are talking nonsense.”
Van Dijk has a point
The amount of games footballers play these days is ridiculous, isn’t it?
Yes, we all love watching our favourite teams play every three days, but the intensity is so high these days that there’s always a risk of injuries.
Players need to be given more protection than they are right now, but unfortunately for Van Dijk and everyone else, it doesn’t look like that will not happen anytime soon.
UEFA, FIFA, the FA and every other board in the world just want the players to stop complaining and get on with it. That is a shame, but there’s not much the players can do about it.
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