Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta feels that there are “too many injuries” in football at the moment, and the fixture list must address that.
The Nerazzurri President gave his thoughts to Italian broadcaster DAZN, via FCInterNews, ahead of this evening’s Serie A clash with Roma.
At the moment, Inter have three players out with injury.
All of Tajon Buchanan, Piotr Zielinski, and Kristjan Asllani are currently on the sidelines.
That is obviously relatively manageable for Inter. But these are far from the only injuries that the team has had so far this season.
Moreover, even when players have been fit, there has sometimes been a sense that they have lacked sharpness.
That is the consequence of a lot of players barely having had a break between their club and international duties.
Then there is the risk of more serious injuries that could leave players on the sidelines for months.
Inter-owned attacking midfielder Valentin Carboni was the latest player to suffer a high-profile ACL injury.
The Argentine follows the likes of Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Bremer, and Duvan Zapata.
Inter President Beppe Marotta: “Too Many Injuries, Fixture List Must Be Lightened”
Injuries are a part of football. But they do feel like more of a threat to players and teams than ever.
That is only going to become more the case as the season goes on.
Inter, for their part, play seven matches in the next three weeks before the next international break. And then many of their players will play with their national teams in November as well.
Then, there is the upcoming Club World Cup. That competition has added a few more matches to an already punishing fixture list for teams participating, including Inter.
Inter President Marotta said “Allow me to make a proactive criticism.”
“We’re having to live with the stress of a lot of matches, and the players are struggling to manage,” he said.
“There have been around a hundred injuries to players with their national teams,” Marotta continued.
“We have to safeguard against that. It’s not easy, because we have to find ways to prevent it.”
“We have to sit at the table and understand if the fixture list can be lightened,” said Marotta.
Marotta also said that “Squad depth now has to be expanded.”
“Particularly in terms of the quality in depth.”
“Talking about starters and then backup is difficult for big clubs. I would instead talk about starters and co-starters.”
“That requires us to have players who can meet our objectives,” Marotta said.
The Nerazzurri President insisted that “We have 23-24 players who can all compete with each other in each competition.”
“Then it’s up to the coach to make the selection decisions.”