Ten Hag becomes latest figure to speak out on overload of fixtures

Erik ten Hag has expressed his concern over the overload of fixtures on his players as Manchester United prepare to kick off an extended Europa League campaign.

United face FC Twente at Old Trafford on Wednesday night in the first of eight group stage games – two more than usual following changes to the format made by UEFA.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri raised the prospect of players going on strike in protest before their Champions League tie against Inter Milan last week – and four days before he suffered a suspected torn ACL in City’s game against Arsenal.

Ten Hag also has serious reservations over playing too much football and called for a better balance between the commercial demands of the game and the welfare of the players.

‘We discuss it so many times, there are too many games, too many competitions, it’s clear,’ he said. ‘The players are overloaded, this is not good for football. That might be good for commercial but there is a limit. Players getting injured is unavoidable because of the players having so many games.

‘As a club, you can’t change this, it’s more about the total industry. It’s about clubs, players, coaches and so many others having to work to improve the game and find the right balance. 

'At the end of the day, it’s financial. We are professional, revenues have to come, but we have to balance this out.’ 

Ten Hag believes extending the Europa League to 32 teams has made it even harder to win but sees it as a clear opportunity to qualify for the Champions League automatically.

‘I think so, it’s an opportunity,’ he added. ‘There are more roads to achieve the targets you want and this is definitely also a road. It’s the most difficult probably in a tournament of 32, you have to be the best but it’s a target, it’s a road we want to go.

‘One thing is for sure, every match is significant and every goal is significant, and first you split the first eight teams after January. But don’t look too far ahead. As you know, we want to win all the competitions and this is one of them.’