Liverpool and the Netherlands national team captain, Virgil van Dijk, has urged Premier League players to speak up against their busy schedule.
Over the years, there have been agitations from some players and coaches against the number of games and tournaments players are expected to participate in every season.
In the Premier League, for instance, the top seven clubs have the European competitions, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, and the league to compete in.
Amid that, the players are expected to represent their countries in international competitions. European players have to play in qualifiers, the Nations League (every two years), European championships (every two years), the World Cup (every four years), and friendlies.
All these tournaments are said to be too much on professional footballers especially those playing in a highly competitive league like the EPL.
Hence, Van Dijk admitted that though the players are well paid, it should not always be all about the money as he urged his colleagues to speak up more against playing too many games.
“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”, Van Dijk said as quoted by Italian transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano.
“We keep having to play more and more games. We as players should start saying something about it, contribute to a solution”.
Van Dijk is currently on international duty with the Netherlands national team. He is expected to captain the team against France in a Euro 2024 qualifiers on Friday, October 13. On Monday, the Dutch team will play another qualifier against Greece.
So far this season, the 32-year-old Van Dijk has played 7 times in all competitions for Liverpool and has provided two assists in the Premier League.
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