Football: Packed calendar has overloaded top players, says United's Ten Hag | ABS-CBN News

The best players have been overloaded due to a packed fixture calendar leaving them prone to injury, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said ahead of the Old Trafford side's Europa League opener against his boyhood club Twente on Wednesday (September 25). Last season, England recorded the highest number of domestic back-to-back matches, 87, among top European leagues, with Premier League clubs averaging the shortest recovery time between games at 67.3 hours. Manchester United experienced the shortest turnaround between matches in November last year, when they beat Fulham in the Premier League 64 hours and 15 minutes after losing to Newcastle United in the League Cup. All three European club competitions have been expanded to 36 teams this season with Manchester City midfielder Rodri having said the players could be close to strike action over the amount of games they are required to play. In July, soccer players' union FIFPRO said it is filing a complaint with EU antitrust regulators regarding FIFA's international match calendar. United won the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017 with a 2-0 victory over Ajax Amsterdam in the final. Earlier in the press conference, Ten Hag - speaking to Dutch media in his native tongue, said it would hurt to beat his boyhood club Twente, having helped them win the Dutch Cup as a player in 2001. Twente are fourth in the Eredivisie following back-to-back wins. After hosting Twente, United welcome Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday (September 29). (Production: Mussab Al-Khairalla) For more ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmgUHWUpi2ioSp4xAP1SmAaf For more latest news and analysis from ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmg4pcvfM9a96rbUcLD_0P_U For more News Digital News Raw Cuts, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmi83yKJH8Dv0p_3D4cyZKzV Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews Watch the full episodes of TV Patrol on iWantTFC: http://bit.ly/TVPatrol-iWantTFC Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews #Exclusive #LatestNews #ABSCBNNews