Player welfare, injury worries & boredom – has extended break worked?

The extended international break might have been brought in with player welfare in mind, but the reality is that a number of players will return to their clubs with injuries.

It is hard to quantify whether more injuries have been picked up during the past fortnight than during other international breaks and it must be factored in that this is a lengthier break with more fixtures. A full and fair comparison might have to wait until the end of the season, after all the international breaks.

However, there have been numerous injuries to players since players joined up with international team-mates.

On Monday, it was announced that Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott had withdrawn from the England squad with a thigh injury and the Cherries are unhappy with the way they believe England handled the injury.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland asked to be substituted on 67 minutes, subsequently limping off in Norway’s match against Portugal on Sunday before leaving camp on Monday while club team-mate Nico O’Reilly returned to City for further assessment.

Following the injury to Haaland, the Norwegian players’ union (NISO) expressed concern over the increased demands.

“Over time, we have seen a worrying trend where the burden on top players has become far too high,” NISO chief Kristoffer Vatshaug said.

“We want clearer guidelines for workload and recovery. It is about the time between matches, consecutive rest periods, travel strain and how much time players get to recover after a long season.”

Liverpool duo Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak have both picked up injuries with Gakpo withdrawing from the Netherlands squad with an ankle injury and Isak pulling out of Sweden duty with a minor thigh injury.

Portugal boss Jorge Jesus revealed Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes had been playing through pain while Sunderland’s Dan Ballard and Brian Brobbey both sustained hamstring problems.

Club managers will have their fingers crossed that no more names are added to that list with three days of fixtures still to be played.

England’s Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice all pulled out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad before the start of the break.

Away from the Premier League, there have also been injuries to some of the biggest stars in the game with Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe sustaining an injury while on duty with France and Barcelona’s Raphinha also returned from Brazil with a thigh injury.