Daniel Farke says Crystal Palace schedule like Championship's, but balance not quite right
Daniel Farke says football has not quite got the balance right in what it is asking of elite players but is loathe to complain too much when the changes are driven by those who ultimately pay his Leeds United wages.
The Whites host Crystal Palace on Saturday night in the middle of a horror week for the Eagles. They were originally due to play on Sunday so Palace could have two clear days to recover from their final Conference League group game against KPS Kuopio.
But their League Cup quarter-final against Arsenal – which would have been played this week had they not been in Europe – had to be crowbarred in on Tuesday.
Including the Community Shield, Palace have played 27 games this season, compared to 17 for Leeds, and Thursday's draw set up two more, with a play-off to decide if they progress to the last 16 of the Conference League. Manager Oliver Glasner has said no one who started Thursday's game will kick off Saturday's.
"My feeling as a player was that you can't have enough games and you become a football player because you want to play football games," argued Farke.
"Having worked for a few years at Championship level you have more or less also the same amount of games than when you play in Europe. Sometimes it's beneficial to have three games in a week because you can rotate a bit.
"The preparation for every game is a bit more challenging because you can't spend that much time on every game but it can be sometimes even a bit beneficial."
But in a season squeezed between an expanded Club World Cup and an expanded World Cup, he admits there might be too much football for the elite.
"We need to find a good balance because we want the best players on the pitch, we want to make sure that they're not injured and that we can play them more or less in every game," he said.
"Sometimes it's a bit over the line also at the moment I would say but I have always struggled to complain too much about it because we are all part of this process as a manager or as a player.
"The players earn way more than 10, 20 years ago and the money comes from more fixtures for broadcasters. Otherwise we would have to say we want less games but you also have to accept probably you earn a bit less.
"It's important we are not overdoing this and do it in a smart way. (We have to be careful) not everyone is fed up with football. It should still be that supporters are excited for a game and players."