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Originally Posted by Trama
They want it. It's all there's left to win for this generation of players, after all. I don't think they're struggling with that, I think they're struggling with fatigue.
There's signs of decline, there's been for awhile, especially in Xavi, but ultimately they're simply worn out. Most of these players have some insane amount of games on their legs. Unthinkable numbers some years ago.
The tropical climate probably doesn't help.
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Yeah, Pirlo too has mentioned how hard he's found the heat. Even the commentators have said how stifling it is, and they're just spectators. That on top of a gruelling season means you're probably right: the players are basically knackered. There
are too many games now, making big tournaments in the off season like the Euros and the WC more of an endurance test than anything, especially for countries with a high percentage of players involved in the CL or UEFA cups. The only way around it is to restrict the games played in a season or allow bigger squads so managers can rotate players more, but that option would require extra money that some clubs just don't have, and would therefore give an even bigger advantage to the very richest teams.
That only leaves a reduction of games played in the CL by reducing the amount of teams that qualify and by
drastically reducing the amount of games in the UEFA cup which is particularly heavy, to the extent that some clubs just don't want to participate in it.