In Amsterdam

The sling is getting organized. In a frank and mobilizing speech Thursday evening, in the press room of the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, on the eve of Netherlands – France on Friday (8:45 p.m.), Aurélien Tchouaméni spoke out about the infernal pace. Without tongue in cheek, delivering the depths of his thoughts. “Obviously we play too many matches, it’s a surprise to no one,” he says from the outset. It’s recurring. Organizations are being put to the test but it is up to the authorities to do something. And if this is not the case, it will be up to us, the player, to bang our fists on the table. Otherwise, on the contrary, it will become heavier. Something has to be done. It is a problem.”

Asked whether the international authorities, Fifa and UEFA, respect the main players, the Real Madrid midfielder continued in the same tone: “I think yes, the authorities respect us, but we don’t ask our opinion. I saw a crazy statistic that between September 2022 and September 2023, I was one of the players who played the most matches, even though I was injured. We all have to make a decision together.”

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A few minutes later, Didier Deschamps, also present at the press conference… unlike Kylian Mbappé, was questioned on the same subject. “They are the actors. The calendars are always overloaded, with a very high pace, increasingly short recovery and preparation times, the boss of the Blues tirelessly repeats, without anything changing. Will the players be able to calm this down? I wish them. But the three-match weeks keep coming and you have to win everything all the time. If they manage to have influence to change the situation, so much the better. I press with them, but I don’t know what to press. It’s not them who decide, nor me. Pleasing everyone is impossible. This has been going on for years.”

Words which echo the declarations of the Dutch captain, Virgil van Dijk, earlier this Thursday, but also the confidences of Kingsley Coman on this theme in our columns. The Bayern Munich and Blues winger believes that the authorities “lack respect” for players with ever more competitions and matches to play. “I came away mentally and physically exhausted from last season, with the World Cup in Qatar and moving on to club,” he breathes fatalistically. Afterwards we will say that you are fragile because you are injured, but the pace is hellish. Playing matches every three days for three months is unthinkable.”