Raphael Varane took to his Twitter account to raise the issue of player workload ahead of the start of the 2023-24 European football season.
Varane, a France international and Manchester United star said that there are “too many games” and that because each game is stretched by additional time being extended beyond the 90-minute mark, players’ and coaches’ opinions are not being heard.
We had a meeting last week with the FA. They recommended from the referees new decisions and rules.
From the managers and players, we have shared our concerns for many years now that there are too many games, the schedule is overcrowded, and it’s at a dangerous level for…
— Raphaël Varane (@raphaelvarane) August 7, 2023
In fact, Arsenal’s stoppage-time equalizer came in the 101st minute of regulation time and they went on to win the Community Shield on penalties against Manchester City. Cole Palmer put City ahead in the 78th minute after coming off the bench, only for Leandro Trossard to score with a deflected show in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time.
After statistics showed that the ball was only in play for an average of 55 minutes during Premier League matches last season, matches in English football are set to have additional minutes added in the forthcoming season, similar to the men’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar last year.