A winter break is more valuable than Cup traditions – everyone can win if the team lifting the trophy takes a smaller cutThe Premier League’s winter break is coming, and it’s a bit of a mess. I’m a firm believer that a break is necessary: footballers aren’t superheroes, they are humans competing in a sport more physically demanding now than it has ever been. The pace of English football is the reason Sky, BT and broadcasters around the world are paying billions to show it, but that is only possible thanks to the supreme fitness of those competing in it. If there is no consideration for their bodies and minds, sooner or later it will have an impact on the product – and the profit.
I know the difference even a short break can make. I remember when I stopped playing for
England, during the first seven days of an international break training would be minimal because so few players were around, and they became recovery times for me. You get a bit of extra one-to-one coaching, a bit of technical training, and it helped me to feel really fresh for the games after international breaks. Most of the other players had to leave their club, travel, play potentially two games, return to their club and three days later they’re playing again, and all that time I had the opportunity to spend time recovering and preparing, looking after myself. They say dropping international football can add two or three years to your career, because you gain those recovery weeks. That’s one reason why Jamie Vardy and James Milner have excelled well into their 30s, and the argument for guaranteeing every player in the division one of those recovery weeks in a long season seems overwhelming.