Marco Silva has hit out at the Premier League for scheduling Thursday night’s win over Chelsea under 72 hours before Fulham travel to Newcastle.
Silva believes the tight turnaround is putting the welfare of players at risk, with Sunday’s game at St James’ Park due to kick-off at 2pm.
The Fulham manager also feels that Newcastle have an unfair advantage due to the fact that they last played on Tuesday night, when they defeated Leicester at home in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
Fulham beat Chelsea 2-1 to move up to sixth in the Premier League, but Silva is now worried about how his players will recover and cannot understand why the game was rearranged for a Thursday evening.
“It will be difficult for us because we almost don’t have time to prepare for the game [at Newcastle],” said the Portuguese. “I think it is unfair for us to start that game at 2pm on a Sunday.
“The way they scheduled the game with Chelsea for a Thursday night is difficult to understand. After such a busy period after the World Cup, playing almost every three days for all the football clubs, a game that wasn’t scheduled, they decide to put it on a Thursday night, two-and-a-half days before the Newcastle match.
“We finished the game yesterday at 10pm and we are going to start the [next] game at 2pm. It is not taking care of the players. I know that the Premier League is tough, it is tough for everyone, it has to be.
“But it is really dangerous. It is really dangerous for the players that they are going to start the game again at 2pm and you have to take care of the players if you want to see good games, if you want to have them in the best physical condition they can be. With this time between both games, you are not taking care of the players.
“It’s not Newcastle’s fault at all. Newcastle played last Tuesday, they did really well again. The situation is [about] why the game against Chelsea was yesterday night.”
