Another legend has spoken today (after Cristiano Ronaldo) and said nothing but truth. Thierry Henry has criticised the football schedule, warning the decision-makers that there are just “too many games”.The former Arsenal and Barcelona forward claims that Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham is a perfect example of a packed football calendar and workload.Bellingham was ruled out for up to a month after sustaining a muscle injury in his lower right leg in August after playing 42 games for Madrid last season and seven games at Euro 2024.Fly like Romero: Spurs defender is halfway to the MoonSince he’s been doing punditry for the CBS channel, Henry was asked about the new format of the Champions League. And he was as straightforward as it gets…”I think for us, for CBS, it is just outstanding to be able to talk about more games. But there is a but for me, because I’m going to go on the side of being a coach. Too many games. Too many games. As an ex-player, I don’t know how those guys do it. As a pundit. I love it. But as an ex-player and as a coach, it’s too many games.”Bellingham is already injured. It’s tough to play a season and then go to the Euros and come back and play for the national team. Games left and right and then a FIFA club tournament at the end of the season. So, as much as I want to see AC Milan vs. Liverpool and Manchester City vs Inter, I want to see the best players on the field be able to perform whenever they can. That’s also part of the product, having the best players on the field who are still able to perform all the time.”So yes, it is outstanding for us, but if I was a coach, I don’t know if I would have found out outstanding. There’s a lot of games.”##NAJAVA_MECA_8325934####EDITORS_CHOICE##Henry, 47, added that those new and recently created competitions make the difference and create the overload. “If you focus on the Champions League, it’s OK, the amount of games,” said Henry, who coached France to silver at the Olympics. “It’s when you add the Nations League, it’s when you add the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the season. It’s when you add everything on top of everything.”If you’re in England, you play the Carabao Cup and you play the FA Cup. It’s too much. If you look at one competition all the time and you isolate that competition, you’re like ‘oh, it’s OK.’ But if you are a great player, it is not OK because you play, as you would, and it’s exciting. Don’t get me wrong, you want to be part of all those games. But I’ll repeat, you want to be part of all those games fresh and able to perform and show who you really are to everybody. And that’s my only issue.”When you isolate a point, it’s OK. But when you put them all together, do the math for a player that plays every game. So let’s not only talk about physically but let’s also talk about mentally and what it does to a player to always perform and forget about the money and the outcome,” said Henry.##NAJAVA_MECA_8326687##
