Inter director Beppe Marotta demands ‘respect for clubs’ and for players to pull out of international duty unless absolutely necessary. ‘This is an anomalous season.’
The game with Parma kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
“An anomalous season ended and an even more anomalous one began,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.
Inter director Beppe Marotta demands ‘respect for clubs’ and for players to pull out of international duty unless absolutely necessary. ‘This is an anomalous season.’
The game with Parma kicks off at 17.00 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
“An anomalous season ended and an even more anomalous one began,” Marotta told Sky Sport Italia.
“That is not an alibi, it’s a statement of fact, as there are also internationals, a packed fixture list, COVID cases and injuries caused by the physiological stress of these games, and it means a coach must always wait until the last second to see who is available.
“I feel we should at least reduce the number of international matches, because otherwise it’s going to be very difficult to squeeze every last drop out of this squad until the end of the season.
“We will be rigid in these situations, because we have many fixtures and so it’s only right the Federations work with us to protect the players and we will be clear that they must think long and hard when calling up our players.
“It’s a general unhappiness that is in all the big clubs, we just ask for some common sense during this anomalous campaign. I don’t want to boycott tournaments, I just ask that any player who accepts the call-up for international duty has to be in the right physical and mental condition to do so. Therefore, if a player already has some muscular issues or is exhausted and needs rest, it is better to just leave him at home. We ask for respect for the clubs.”
Romelu Lukaku is out this weekend, but is also a major doubt to feature in the Champions League with Real Madrid after a muscular injury.
“We look to what the medical staff tell us. Naturally, we want to get players back as soon as possible, but we also don’t want to risk a relapse in such a long campaign. We have to be very wary,” added Marotta.
“The coach is doing his best, the transfer strategy was wise, and we are making the most we possibly can from the resources at our disposal. The resources are limited because of this anomalous situation that has affected clubs at all levels.”