Madrid star admits he wants an ‘NBA-style’ calendar in European football | All Football

Courtois spoke to CNN about the tough schedule, admitting he wanted an NBA-style rest period.

the goalkeeper of Real Madrid Thibaut Courtois gave an interview to CNN after winning the career award of the Globe Soccer Awards.

Among other matters, he talk about the overloaded calendar and the approach taken to the problem, which often draws attention to the players and their high salaries.

What do you think of the current calendar?

“The pretense that we earn a lot of money has to stop. You can also earn money by playing ten fewer games. It’s not so much the games as the fact that I feel like we don’t have much rest. FIFPRO tries to protect the players, but I think other organizations don’t think about it.

This Club World Cup (next summer, with 32 teams and to be held between mid-June and mid-July in the United States) is something that has to happen, but it’s difficult to find the right way to do it. The clubs want to help, but here we all follow the rules and the calendar they give us. If you play one game a week, you don’t have this problem, but for the best players it is different. The other day I was joking about this with Fede Valverde, I told him: “Your next holiday will be in 2027.” That sounds crazy!”

Would an NBA style calendar be better?

“I think players wouldn’t have a problem playing non-stop for nine months with the right preparation and with ‘load management’ (as the NBA calls it). If you have two months off in the summer, as happens in the NBA, you can rest your body for a month and then prepare it for another month.

People will then be more willing to play for nine months straight. When you don’t rest, that’s when injuries come. But this year it’s the Club World Cup, next year the World Cup for national teams, the next something else… there is no rest for the players.

Bellingham and Carvajal (participants in the final of the last Euros) played until July 14 and on August 1 they were coaching Madrid; on the 8th they played the UEFA Super Cup (the Belgian numbers were a little off: they returned on August 7 and played that game on the 14th). If you explain this to someone from America, where the NBA and the NFL are … they wouldn’t understand.“

There are more important national team games these days than before…

“There definitely is more international gamestoo. For example, in the League of Nations, it’s nice to play a small tournament where you can win a trophy and give the smaller teams a chance to qualify for the European Championship. I like that. The problem is that in September, October and November the best players have to play important games somewhere the coach can’t rotate, he can’t try new things. Now every game is important, including the World Cup qualifiers.”

What is the latest on your situation with the Belgian National Team?

“Playing for my country has always been a source of pride. The team has clearly moved on and I don’t know what will happen in the next monthor next year. Obviously I hope to play again or have a proper farewell. I would love to play in the next World Cup, but we’ll see what happens. It’s not that easy.”

Thoughts on the new format in the UEFA Champions League

“The new format is very similar to the one proposed by our president, the Super Leagueto what they want to do with it. i think they made the right choice with this approach because there are many exciting games and you have to fight them until the end, you don’t know what will happen.”

Can Real Madrid win all 7 trophies available this season?

“We never prioritize just one thing; in the last two Champions Leagues we won we also won LaLiga. This season I think anyone can beat anyone in the League, it’s a tough competition, and the same thing happens in the Champions League. We want to win as much as possiblethat’s what they ask of us at Real Madrid. “

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