Legendary Newcastle United player Alan Shearer blasted into Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk after the defender complained that players nowadays are expected to do too much.
The international player from the Netherlands asserted last week that the football schedule, particularly in England, is too busy. Van Dijk stated during a press conference: “In England, we think the calendars are too hard. Although the players are paid handsomely, this should never come at the expense of our wellbeing.
“We’re required to play an increasing number of games. We players need to start speaking up and helping to find a solution. A reporter questioned the 32-year-old about his point of view and inquired as to whether he would be willing to accept a 10% pay cut in exchange for appearing in fewer games. “No,” the defender answered. “And for the better of your health?” the journalist retorted. The reply from van Dijk was, “Then yes.”
The Champions League and Europa League will have more matches in the coming years thanks to revisions from UEFA, while the World Cup and Club World Cup will see similar changes from FIFA.
Shearer is unconvinced by Van Dijk’s assertions in spite of this. The striker has played at the highest level for nearly 20 years, therefore he is well aware of the difficulties facing professional football.
“Nonsense. Are football players playing it too much? What? I mean, come on,” he said on the podcast The Rest is Football. “I know you shouldn’t bring up money, but they have larger squads than ever, more substitutes than ever, and they are paid more money than ever,” the speaker said. “You have the best technology, the best physiotherapists, and everything else. Please do me a favor.
Gary Lineker, on the other hand, expressed a little more sympathy for Van Dijk’s perspective, remarking that the traveling necessary for modern football must be ‘tiring.’
The former Everton and England striker stated, “My point would be that they are asked to play a lot of football and they are asked to fly all over the world at times. “In their private jets,” Shearer answered. Lineker continued, “However they travel, it is still exhausting. “I don’t have anything against football players in general, but I do believe that in order to keep the game as entertaining as possible, we need to consider player welfare.”
