Every football fan looks forward to the World Cup, an unmissable event that comes around every four years and that brings together the biggest stars of the sport in the same place at the same time. This year, though, the World Cup is different as the domestic leagues will have to pause for over a month in the middle of the season in order to hold the event in Qatar, given that temperatures are too extreme to hold it in June and July. It’s an unprecedented situation for world football, which has affected the calendar, the players’ mentality and their fitness. The day-to-day running of the clubs has been altered by this unusual situation… and will continue to be so even when the regular competition resumes after the World Cup.
An unprecedented season
For the players going to the World Cup and for those who are remaining with their clubs, such a long break in the competition is an unusual situation. Axel Witsel, the Atlético de Madrid and long-time Belgium international, sees the positive side of it: “I think that, in a physical sense, players will arrive at a November World Cup in better condition, as the players will be in peak form.”
However, Atlético de Madrid’s summer signing fears that the event may take its toll on the rest of the season: “Players are used to having a break in December,” says Witsel. “Me even more so because I was playing in Germany, and this year those of us who are going to the World Cup will still be playing. It’s going to be a very busy season, so it won’t be easy.”
Another player thinking along the same lines is Francis Coquelin, the French Villarreal CF player who isn’t in his national team’s squad. He said: “It’s going to be quite different, especially for those who are going to the World Cup. To come back from an experience like that and to then refocus on LaLiga… we’ll have to see how it goes.”
All seem to agree that this is a season full of uncertainty, both for the players who are travelling to Qatar and those who are not. It’s especially so because there are different circumstances at each club. This depends on various factors: if a specific club had a lot or not so many players in the running to go to the tournament; how many players have ultimately been called up by their national teams; what the fixture congestion is like for each club; and how well suited each club is to adapt to this unprecedented season, one that affects all the teams in one way or another.
The physical aspect is a differentiating factor
Physical preparation is an increasingly important aspect in modern football. Advances in technology and science have made it even more essential for clubs to take specific care of the physical condition of each player, with individualised treatment involving an increasing number of professionals.
David Casamichana is a fitness coach Real Sociedad and believes that “the role of the fitness coach is evolving to become a more strategic and collaborative role.” Meanwhile, Sergi Pérez, the fitness coach at nearby CA Osasuna, highlights the importance of technology: “With all the data provided by Mediacoach – the official tool of LaLiga – and other such systems, we have all the information we need to get the best performance out of our players.” Thanks to recent developments, these professionals can now take on the big challenge that is this atypical mid-season pause and do so with certain assurances.
A different kind of pre-season in summer
Between the start of the season and the World Cup, each team played 14 LaLiga Santander fixtures, 37% of the competition and a key stretch in determining the objectives that each team will fight for in the remaining two thirds of the season.
Sergio Dorado, the fitness coach at Cádiz CF, says that he and his colleagues have had this in mind since the end of last season. “We were very conscious of the fact that we had this 14-match ‘mini-league’ with a lot at stake,” he says, “and that’s why we prepared a pre-season in the summer that was very focused on competitiveness, with a lot of friendly matches.”
Casamichana goes deeper. “Traditionally, pre-seasons have been understood to be a very important period in which players recharge their batteries for the rest of the season, although this is not supported by scientific literature,” he says. “The pre-seasons serve to prepare the players to compete at the start of the season, because afterwards they have to continue improving, optimising and developing their physical condition.” It is a continuous process, one that has been interrupted this season.
Demanding physical preparation in the three months leading up to the World Cup
In addition to the first 14 league matches of the campaign, some clubs also had the group stage of European competitions, which finished their first phase a month earlier than they usually do. Casamichana, who has experienced this with Real Sociedad, explained the consequences: “The World Cup break has generated an even more congested schedule than we usually face. We faced a period in which we competed every three days for a run of 13 matches. For us, it was a situation we hadn’t faced before, as it’s not normal to have so many games in a row. That fixture congestion meant we had to manage the recovery processes in a different way.”
It was a very demanding stretch in which the players and their trainers have worked hard to maintain optimum competitive condition. “I can only applaud the level of responsibility, professionalism and commitment that the players have showed to the club’s project,” says Casamichana. “Each and every day they have demonstrated their dedication in this highly demanding context in which it takes a lot of effort to recover as well as possible, sometimes with less than 72 hours before the next match. They have shown us the way.”
How has the World Cup affected the psychological side of things?
In addition to the physical side of the game, the psychological is also important. While the experience of playing in a World Cup is so important for players, debate has abounded about players potentially putting aside their commitment to their clubs in order to ensure they make it to Qatar.
“It’s a good litmus test,” says Dorado. “The fear of getting injured and missing a World Cup can be difficult to manage, and I think it’s a matter for the player himself. No club coaching staff is going to think about reserving a player for the World Cup because we’re selfish in that sense. I think it’s an individual thing for each player.”
LaLiga clubs have worked to find a balance in the face of this unusual situation. Pérez says that “it’s a matter of pride” for CA Osasuna to have a number of their players representing the club at the World Cup, and to this end work to help them further their international ambitions.
How will clubs operate during the break?
While the attention of the footballing world will be on Qatar, the clubs must remain focused on their own interests. They will be without some players, but the break is being viewed as “a pre-season,” a time to recharge batteries, correct technical-tactical aspects of their play and prepare for the rest of the season.
There is consensus that a period of rest is necessary, even more so after such a demanding period. CA Osasuna, who are seventh and on course for European qualification, have laid out a period of rest in their programme. “First of all, we have given the players between nine and 10 days of rest, so that they can enjoy time with their families,” says Perez. “Then we’ll have the typical phases of a pre-season: conditioning, collective work and the competitive phase, with friendly matches to get into a competitive rhythm.” In the case of Los Rojillos, they’ll have Abde Ezzalzouli (Morocco) and Ante Budimir (Croatia) away in Qatar with their national teams.
Real Sociedad, meanwhile, will be without Takefusa Kubo after he was called up by Japan, but they’ll take advantage of the break to continue their own preparations. “I love my players a lot and wish them the best, so if they dreamt of playing in a World Cup then I’m happy for those who go,” Says Casamichana. But the players who remain with us are going to have a well-organised process to follow, with physical and mental rest and with adaptation.” At this moment in time, the Txuri-Urdin sit in an impressive third position in the LaLiga Santander table.
LaLiga Santander clubs are also planning friendly matches for this winter pre-season. For example, Real Betis, who have five internationals at the World Cup, have planned a short tour of Argentina and Chile for November and they’ll then host European teams such as Manchester United, Inter and Atalanta at home in Seville. Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano (who have one international away) and Villarreal CF (four) will tour Turkey, in collaboration with LaLiga, to face Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. Then there are FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have 16 and 13 players in Qatar respectively, so they have not yet confirmed whether they will even play any friendly matches during the break, bearing in mind that they are two of the clubs with the largest representations at this World Cup.
Getting back into the daily rhythm after the World Cup
While the preparation for the build-up to the tournament and its duration is something unprecedented, it’ll also be a challenge for the more than 80 LaLiga players who are away in Qatar at the World Cup to return to the daily rhythm of their clubs afterwards. National team training sessions, especially at a World Cup, are different to those of a club. As Dorado points out: “With a national team, the objective is not to get the player in shape. They have very short training camps in which the training sessions are focused on adjusting technical-tactical elements and on consistency, and not so much on physical preparation.”
Those who go to Qatar may well return in a poorer physical condition than those who stay behind and work with their club. However, once they are reintegrated, the LaLiga clubs have no doubt that the players will quickly become 100% committed to their objectives. Dorado continues: “Football generates a strong and quick bond. When you build a new squad or go to a new club, after just 10 days of training together you get the feeling that you’ve been together all your lives. That’s why I don’t think it’ll be difficult for the players to readapt to the club football dynamic.”
It’s logical that the clubs with the most players in Qatar are likely to be the most affected in this regard. Carlo Ancelotti, the Real Madrid coach, has publicly said that the impact will go beyond December, when LaLiga Santander resumes (on Saturday, December 31st). “We’ll have to see how we manage it,” he said in a press conference in October. Maybe we won’t field the World Cup players until mid-January and instead only use the players who stay behind with us at Valdebebas. I think we’ll have to give them a rest and then maybe a pre-season. We’ll see.” With the club having 13 internationals representing seven different national teams, each of them will have a different set of circumstances to study after the World Cup, depending on how far their national teams go in the tournament and how many games each of them plays in.
Personalisation in the treatment of players
With this in mind, in which clubs will have to adapt to their own particularities and to those of their players, personalised treatment is essential.
A clear example is Awer Mabil, the 27-year-old Australian winger who signed for Cádiz CF last summer. He is a key player for his national team, which qualified via the World Cup playoffs, and his presence in the Australia squad for the World Cup was never in doubt. But he hasn’t played much for the club in the first stretch of the season and this has impacted his preparation.
A personalised plan was put in place, as Dorado details: “He isn’t getting much playing time, but I knew he had a good chance of going to the World Cup. He wanted to be physically fit enough to be called up by his country, so we took that into account with our training sessions and made up for his lack of game time by working hard in training.”
Then there are cases of players who weren’t so certain to be called up. Abde, the Moroccan player at CA Osasuna on loan from FC Barcelona, suffered an injury on October 23rd and has not played a single minute for the club since then. His presence in his national team’s squad was far from assured, despite the fact that he had been playing well, and the injury was a big obstacle.
Pérez explains that the club’s coaching staff did all they could over those weeks “so that Abde could be in the best condition for the World Cup… we were in direct contact with the Moroccan football federation, with their physical preparation department. Our efforts were focused on getting the player back to a good physical, technical-tactical and mental level. There was no better motivation than the chance to compete in a World Cup.” In the end, the outcome was a happy one for Abde and for the club, as the Moroccan was indeed called up by the national team for the tournament in Qatar.
Offering further insight into how these communication processes between national teams and clubs work, Casamichana of Real Sociedad – who have various internationals, even if not all will be at the World Cup – explains: “Nowadays, the flow of information with the federations is bidirectional. When a player travels with his national team, we send them reports from the medical, preparation and even technical-tactical departments. Once the international period is over, it is the federations who carry out this process. the main beneficiary of all this is the player and, by extension, the spectacle.”
Now this personalised treatment will have to take place in January. “There will be players who didn’t get to go to the World Cup and some who did,” says Dorado. Then, of the latter, there will be some who played a lot of minutes and some who didn’t. So we’ll have to assess the workload that each one has had during the World Cup, in terms of travel, rest and more. We’ll have to fine-tune each player based on their particular situation.”
This is clearly an unprecedented moment that the clubs and players are facing, and all have the objective of competing as best as they possibly can. They’ll continue to take on this challenge to the end of this atypical season. This wouldn’t be possible without the professionalism and high level of the players and coaching staff of the LaLiga clubs, who are demonstrating that they’re at the forefront of football and that they possess a great ability to adapt to new contexts.
