The Professional Footballers' Association has backed criticism from Marcus Rashford regarding the hectic football schedule.
Rashford called out organisers while on England duty earlier this month, with players jetting off for Euro 2024 qualifiers after a marathon 2022-23 campaign. The Manchester United forward played 56 games for his club, with a World Cup and other international games increasing that number to 63.
Entitled to a minimum three-week break, Rashford and his international teammates are scheduled to report back for pre-season from July 10, meaning they will likely miss the first friendly against Leeds United in Oslo two days later. United then play Lyon in Edinburgh on July 19 before jetting off to the United States for games against Arsenal, Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Wrexham.
United are by no means the only team packing in several friendlies, with SunSport research revealing that Premier League teams will travel a combined 170,758 miles ahead of next season - almost seven times around earth.
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And PFA chief executive Maheta Molango warned: “A properly co-ordinated approach to the football calendar is needed to address the growing pressure being placed on players. They themselves are saying their wellbeing has to be prioritised.”
Rashford was among 15 United players representing their countries earlier this month, capping off a mammoth season. Having progressed into the latter stages of the Europa League and both domestic cups, United played every midweek for months on end.
"It's mad that at club level, we’re playing against teams that play one game a week and we’re playing three games a week from November up until we got knocked out of the Europa League," he said earlier this month. "It's difficult but at the same time, we’re used to doing it. But I don't think it's right.
"In the earlier stages of my career I just couldn't make sense of it. I know some managers have spoken about it, but if one team is playing 60 games in a year and another 38 there needs to be some time for the team that's playing 20 extra games to recover and prepare properly for the games."
