Ange Postecoglou calls for changes to football calendar

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou and captain Son Heung-min have both insisted the growing football schedule must be addressed.

Spurs begin their Europa League campaign on Thursday at home to Qarabag and the initial phase of the competition has been extended to eight games instead of six, which is also the same for the Champions League.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri suggested last week that players could strike over the increasing fixture congestion before days later he suffered a serious knee injury.

"They may take things into their own hands. They're the ones most affected to be honest, so you would understand if they started to think as a collective, how much are we going to have to continually not have a say in?" Postecoglou explained.

"I have spoken already about the fact we’re getting to a real dangerous level about what our expectations are around players. Instead of focusing on one or two tournaments, it’s about the calendar. That is more of an issue.

"Players don’t get a break between seasons any more like they used to. There are more tournaments both at club level, international level and continental level.

"So, it’s going to get to a point where we are not going to have the best players out there playing and even worse them breaking down for various reasons. It’s definitely something that needs to be addressed."

The issue is of particular significance for Son, who regularly travels across the world to feature in South Korea matches before a quick turnaround back to domestic matters.

Son insisted the players are not robots and highlighted City being forced to play Watford on Tuesday two days after an action-packed 2-2 draw with Arsenal where Rodri was injured.

"You don’t want to see players struggling with injuries. No