IT’S only been four months since I last played professionally but I’m already sick of hearing managers and players moaning.
Moaning about kick-off times, moaning about fixture congestion, moaning about playing in too many competitions.
What wouldn’t I give to play just one more Premier League match?
What wouldn’t I give to have just one week like Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal players are experiencing now, in the heat of a title race?
It’s not that I never complained about my workload when I was playing — but I certainly didn’t do it publicly.
In a TV interview after Liverpool’s derby defeat by Everton on Wednesday, Virgil van Dijk made a point of mentioning that his team have to play West Ham at 12.30pm on Saturday.
It echoed a long-running gripe of Jurgen Klopp’s that Liverpool get more lunchtime kick-offs than anyone else.
To which the obvious response: ‘OK, do you want to give back the huge slice of your salary that comes from TV money?’
Van Dijk plays for one of the most famous clubs in the world and it’s entirely natural that their matches are going to be televised live more than most other clubs.
Liverpool’s players are also paid more money than most for the same reason. They’re at the pinnacle. Where all of us wanted to be. So it’s tiresome to hear them moaning.
How will those complaints sound to a diehard fan, perhaps a manual worker, who’s gone to Goodison on Wednesday, then does two hard days’ graft and is up at dawn to get a train to London to watch his side again — paying serious money to do so?
That’s why you never heard me complaining publicly. And it’s funny but you never heard Liverpool’s players moaning about fixture congestion when things were going well — when they won the title in 2021.
Pep Guardiola was moaning about City having to play Chelsea in last Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, three days after facing Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Guess what? You’re going for a Treble — as City were until they lost on penalties to Real — so the fixtures are going to come thick and fast.
It will not stop City from going on a long and draining far-flung pre-season tour this summer. It doesn’t stop Spurs and Newcastle from travelling to Australia to play a friendly three days after the Premier League season ends.
I’m not trying to pretend that a footballer’s life is an easy one.
The workload can seem relentless and there are plenty of sacrifices made. But it’s also a bloody good life. One which I wouldn’t have swapped for anything else and would love to taste again.
And I wasn’t keen on lunchtime kick-offs either. They mess up your diet, your routine and superstitions.
You only eat one meal before kick-off — a larger breakfast, rather than a light breakfast then a pre-match lunch — and that never made me feel as well prepared physically.
You’d have to load up with more food on the Friday. And if you’ve played on Wednesday night that isn’t ideal.
But to publicly complain about it is never a good look. It also makes players and managers sound as if they are getting their excuses in early. That isn’t conducive to a positive mindset.
Sports scientists can make players believe they are more tired than they are. If you tell someone they’re tired then they are more likely to feel fatigued.
If players voice those concerns — or managers do it on their behalf — it winds people up.
Do they think that supporters are going to say, ‘Oh, poor you, you’re going for the Premier League title, you’re earning millions but you’re having to play three games a week’.
I don’t think the hearts of supporters will be bleeding for them. And I can assure them that former players feel just the same
