Both Allardyce and Koeman will be busy over Christmas with a flurry of fixtures
Sam Allardyce and Ronald Koeman became the latest to call on the FA to follow most other European countries and introduce a winter break.
West Ham boss Allardyce warned that players face having their careers wrecked in the long term by being pushed to play too many games in too short a time over the festive period.
Southampton’s Koeman – experiencing his first working Christmas – blasted a fixture list that will see his side playing twice in three days as “crazy.”
Newspaper Review – Saturday 6 December
If you keep flogging your players and keep asking them to maintain the highest levels then you’re asking for injuries
Sam Allardyce
Allardyce’s West Ham high-fliers, who face their third punishing match in a week against Swansea today, will play four games in eight days without a break over the holiday.
Allardyce said: “If you keep flogging your players and keep asking them to maintain the highest levels then you’re asking for injuries.
“And every injury takes its toll on a player. If a player consistently starts getting injuries then he will pay a price somewhere down the line. It will shorten his career.”
Koeman endorsed Allardyce’s warning, adding: “This is a new experience for me and players like Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic.
“They always had a break in Holland for 10 days. The chance to be injured is much higher and to have one day off between two games is crazy.”
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