It has been an intense few weeks for Kosovare Asllani after the EC semi-final loss against England at the end of July. She never got a chance to rest after the championship, as a pre-season camp in the USA with Milan immediately awaited.
Asllani has certainly had a good start in his new club. She scored two goals in her first game of pre-season, and also found action in the Serie A opener against Fiorentina (1-3 loss) last weekend.
“I’m not rested”
But the 33-year-old does not deny that she would actually have to recover.
— I’m not rested, that’s the way it is. And when you come to a new environment, even more is required of you. Because you still have to help the club reach new levels and take new steps in their investment. I haven’t had any recovery after the EC, but that’s how football life is, says Asllani.
She is not the first to take up the challenge of an increasingly dense match calendar for the women’s clubs. Barcelona’s Fridolina Rolfö said the other week that she had never played as many matches as last season, and mentioned among other things the introduction of group games in the Champions League as a reason why the players are forced to push themselves more than before.
Harsh criticism of Real
The clubs have not really kept up with that development, says Kosovare Asllani.
— We still believe that the harder we train, the better we get. But we have to realize that the more tournaments and matches you have, the more important it becomes with recovery. I think many clubs have missed that, she says.
That rest is not a higher priority is strange, says the national team veteran. Especially since it is well documented how important recovery is, both to get better and to endure in the long term.
— In Sweden, we have always been at the forefront when it comes to training players in how to train, what to eat and that whole bit. There, recovery is a key to success. Because if you constantly break down players and don’t get any recovery in between, then players will break. But you notice that it’s starting to become a bit more like in men’s football, that they treat us more like products. If someone breaks, you just put someone else in.
This was precisely one of the main reasons why Asllani chose to leave Real Madrid after last season. Last spring, she came down hard on the management staff of the Spanish big club, who, according to Asllani, ignored the medical team’s statements and forced injured players to play.
Paying tribute to the City
But there are also good examples among her former clubs:
— The best club I’ve been to when it comes to these parts, it’s Manchester City. There you got two days here and there to recover, says Asllani.
TT: How is it in Milan?
— Now I’ve been there for such a short time, but what I’ve heard is that they want to give time off and that you get one or two days after the matches, especially when it’s an intense schedule.
— There are too many clubs where the coach does not trust the medical team and pressures the player to play. These are the kinds of environments I’ve been in and that’s why people have broken up.