Why is football so blind to the injuries caused by a remorseless schedule? | Jonathan Wilson

Steps could have been taken to soften the demands on players but greed has stretched exhausted muscles to breaking point

Just after the hour, Trent Alexander-Arnold, as he had done all game, chased back from inside the Manchester City half, tracking Raheem Sterling. The City attack broke down, and Liverpool went again to launch a counterattack. Sterling, trying to regain possession, fouled Joël Matip and earned a booking. Just behind him, Alexander-Arnold, surging forward again, pulled up and sank to the pitch, his calf gone.

Human bodies, even those of athletes, are fragile. Pulls and strains and tweaks happen. But in context, it was hard not to see Alexander-Arnold as the victim of the remorselessness of Covid football’s schedule.

Related: Klopp blasts Liverpool scheduling after Alexander-Arnold's injury at Man City

Continue reading...