PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN boss Thomas Tuchel has slammed the club’s fixture mayhem after Neymar was ruled out for a number of weeks.
The Ligue 1 champions have endured a swell of injuries in the early weeks of the campaign.
Thomas Tuchel is fed up with Paris Saint-Germain’s busy scheduleCredit: Reuters
Neymar was the latest casualty of the pile-up, picking up an injury in midweekCredit: AFP or licensors
Wednesday’s win over Istanbul Basaksehir claimed Brazilian winger Neymar, who is expected to be out until late November with a groin injury.
That should mean he is back to face Manchester United on December 2 but Tuchel was left fuming with the pile-up.
He told reporters: “We’re going to kill the players. That’s what I’ve always said.
“We are going to kill them because there is an important link between preparation, performance and rest.”
PSG are on a run of seven games in 22 days between the October and November international breaks.
Fifa have organised a pair of triple headers for national teams, even though many leagues kicked off late due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ligue 1 and the Champions League are two of many competitions to maintain the five substitutes rule to ease fatigue.
But Tuchel, 47, believes too much is being asked of the players with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City also picking up injuries.
We lose a player every game at the moment and we are not the only ones. Liverpool, Man City, Bayern, it’s the same thing.
Thomas Tuchel
The German continued: “In football it always falls on the greatest players because they will always play for their country.
“They play during the break, they travel and that’s too much in my opinion. They don’t have a recovery phase to allow them to come back and a preparation phase.
“That is not a secret, it happens in sport. Preparation influences injuries and performance.
“Without preparation, players are more fragile and difficult to manage. This is not an excuse, this is the truth. We are going to look for solutions and I hope we will find some.”
He added: “We came back [on Thursday] and [Friday] is our second day after playing.
“It’s the riskiest day in terms of injuries, which means we’re doing almost nothing.
“We lose a player for every game at the moment and we are not the only ones concerned. Liverpool, Manchester City, Bayern Munich – it’s the same thing.”
Neymar asks to be subbed after just 25 minutes of PSG’s clash with Basaksehir after apparent groin injury
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
