Ipswich Town attacker Sammie Szmodics is unconcerned about fixture congestion in professional football, stating that playing consistently is what he enjoys.
There has been a lot of debate regarding whether players participate in too many games, resulting in burnout and injury. Manchester City player Rodri has been a prominent voice in this debate, refusing to rule out the prospect of a strike. The Spaniard has subsequently been out for the season after sustaining ligament damage in his right knee.
Szmodics does not play in European events such as the Champions League, although he is a Premier League regular and a senior international for the Republic of Ireland.
Finally, he enjoys playing for club and nation and is adamant that he will not change his schedule.
“It’s what we love doing, we love playing football,” he went on: “At 28, I definitely like playing football more than I did at 20.
“To represent Ireland is massive for me and my family, so I’ll never complain about playing games of football.”
He like the Premier League’s spread-out fixtures. The EFL has an abundance of midweek games, which can generate substantial schedule congestion, but the top tier is different.
This gives Szmodics and his teammates extra time to train and prepare for the next matches.
“During the Championship, you frequently play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday. Then you have a cup game thrown in,” he said.
“It’s a really busy schedule, and there isn’t much time to train on the grass. It’s more about playing a game, healing, taking a day off, and then returning to the game.
“You have weeks between games where you can really focus on the opposition, as opposed to the Championship, where it’s just game after game.
“We get a lot more time on the grass for the tactical side of things and a lot more time to recover.”
