Mauricio Pochettino bemoans lack of break for top players
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has expressed dismay at the Premier League starting so soon after Euro 2016 and believes managers are put in an impossible position when picking international players.
Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris will be out for around four weeks after injuring his hamstring against Everton last weekend and Pochettino was forced to deny accusations his captain needed a longer rest.
Lloris played 58 matches last season for club and country, including all seven at Euro 2016, with France's final defeat to Portugal coming 34 days before Tottenham's opener at Goodison Park.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has also come under scrutiny for granting France defender Laurent Koscielny extra time off after The Gunners were beaten 4-3 by Liverpool on Sunday. Aaron Ramsey, who played five games for Wales at the Euros, started but injured his hamstring in the second half.
Pochettino, whose side host Crystal Palace on Saturday, concludes that either way, managers cannot win.
"We need to be like we are in the circus, juggling," Pochettino said. "Come on, all the pressure is on the managers, always. If you put a player who you don't give holidays and he gets injured, it's your fault.
"If you give rest and he doesn't play in the commercial games, you are guilty. Always it is the manager's fault, always, always.
"The problem is the organisation of the competition. You cannot play the Euros and start [the Premier League] on August 13. How can you give rest to the players after the whole season?"
Pochettino left behind all but one of his Euro 2016 players during Tottenham's pre-season tour of Australia in July but fielded a full-strength side against Everton, including Harry Kane.
Kane is starting his second successive season on the back of a major international tournament, having played for England at the European Under-21 Championships 14 months ago.
"If you give rest in training and say, 'I don't want to use this player that was involved in the Euros' and you have no positive results - the media, the supporters, the board and the president kill me," Pochettino said.
"There is nothing to win, always lose. If you don't win the game, you are guilty. Our players are athletes, special athletes. They need pre-season, they need to train properly, they need to rest, they need good food, it's impossible to compete when the amount of competitions is very high.
"To be ready to compete they need time. It is not only 'if you pay good money they must be ready'. Like Harry Kane - no holiday, no holiday, no holiday - he plays in the Under-21s then he plays in the Euros. He is not a machine."
Pochettino's methods are particularly demanding, with his double training sessions and high-energy style of play, but the Argentinian believes more should be done to protect players from exhaustion.
"You are in competition for 11 and a half months and the players, because you pay them good salaries, don't deserve the holidays? Come on. And the families? The sons? The kids? They are not machines," Pochettino said.
"The problem is that in football, the managers and players need to make the decisions about the competitions but sometimes the decisions are always from the people who never play football.
"I agree with (Diego) Maradona sometimes when he complains about football: the people who take the decisions about football are people who never touch the football and that is the problem. That is the problem.
"But it is difficult to change because in between business, football, sports, there are many things that happen. And as we always say, football is not an ordinary business."
Alan Pardew believes Christian Benteke can lift Crystal Palace after the departures of "iconic" duo Yannick Bolasie and Mile Jedinak.
A fee of B#27million plus B#5million of add-ons has been agreed with Liverpool for the 25-year-old striker, who will become Palace's club-record signing subject to agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.
While at Anfield Benteke struggled to repeat the form that persuaded Liverpool to pay Aston Villa B#32.5million for him last summer - but Pardew hopes the Belgium international can get back to his best at Selhurst Park.
Pardew also praised his club's board for their 'bravery' in securing a deal for the forward as Palace look to mitigate the loss of influential duo Bolasie and Jedinak to Everton and Aston Villa, respectively.
"It's still subject to personal terms and a medical, but in terms of an agreement with Liverpool, finally we seem to have got there," said Pardew, who also targeted a move for Benteke while he was in charge of Newcastle.
"It's important when you lose iconic players to try and replace them with iconic players. We've lost two this week, Mile Jedinak and Yala Bolasie. Both were massive figures at this club and we will need to replace them with big figures.
"That's something that didn't always happen at Newcastle, unfortunately, so I'm pleased the board have been brave with this move.
"He's someone I know very, very well because I wanted to take him to Newcastle. I thought he'd be a fantastic fit for that club. He got the move to Liverpool and it hasn't quite worked out.
"For us, we need to get him back to doing what he does best. His style of play, the way he feeds off crosses...
"He'll enjoy that with the wide players we have. But he's not our player yet.
"(Bolasie's transfer to Everton) wasn't something that I'd planned. I asked him if there was anything we could do to keep him at the club, and his response was 'no'."
The transfer fee for Benteke - whose move will not be completed in time for him to feature in Saturday's Premier League trip to Tottenham - will more than double the previous club-record B#13million Palace paid to recruit Andros Townsend.
Saturday's match represents the winger's first at White Hart Lane since he left Tottenham to join Newcastle in January.
He is expected to retain his place despite Palace's disappointing performance in last week's 1-0 home defeat by West Brom. Yohan Cabaye, James McArthur, James Tomkins and Jordon Mutch have since recovered their match fitness, and are likely to feature among changes.
"(Spurs have) an energy in their squad," said Pardew. "They haven't had to make wholesale changes in that group because they're so young, and they'll be better for the experience of last year.
"Their first home game is not an ideal draw for us. We'll have to be very, very good to get something there."
Source: PAR
