Blissful Thanksgiving! These of you in the USA could also be having fun with a break, however for Hansi Flick and the German males’s nationwide workforce, it’s been something however.
The 2022/23 soccer calendar has been an actual storm. It could have began with relative calm, however as soon as the English weeks arrived, they by no means let up — and as quickly because the Bundesliga Hinrunde wound down, with a vital harm to Bayern Munich and Senegal star Sadio Mané no much less — the World Cup was right here.
“The schedule was powerful for the gamers,” Flick acknowledged merely (by way of @iMiaSanMia). “It will’ve been higher if the league had stopped every week earlier… We had a 2-day break after the Oman sport. The intensive preparation began right this moment.”
With Germany’s group stage opener towards Japan on Wednesday quick approaching, it’s a spot of fixture congestion which may be a deal with for entertainment-starved followers, however is verging on callous and thoughtless in direction of the collaborating athletes. (This Bayern fan is getting fairly nervous about Joshua Kimmich’s continuous run of video games for membership and shortly, nation…)
Accidents have already reared their ugly head because the match started. Leroy Sané has been dominated out of the group stage opener vs. Japan, and France’s Lucas Hernández might be misplaced for the complete season with an ACL tear. What is going to the following video games convey?
However, it’s a problem Germany must face head-on.
“We wish to play inspiring soccer,” Flick continued. “It’s about beginning effectively on the World Cup and surviving the group stage. Afterwards, we’ll go step-by-step.”