In Spain they have a word for it: Mundial-itis.
It is a play on the Spanish word for World Cup. Memphis Depay has allegedly caught it, Karim Benzema is showing symptoms. This week Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli let the cat out of the bag when he admitted that he had players in his squad incubating it.
The simple translation is a fear of missing the World Cup, which pundits believe is beginning to have a major impact on La Liga. Depay and Benzema are supposedly showing undue caution in their respective returns from injury because Qatar is looming.
The Spanish sports newspaper AS backed up the theory with a series of graphics showing that the intensity of La Liga games has dropped, with noticeably fewer duels and intensity stats falling in matches.
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Fifa's shameless 'stick to football' plea on Qatar will have exactly the opposite effect04 November, 2022It’s understandable. The advent of a mid-season World Cup has put unprecedented pressure on players, not only through a concertinaed fixture list but also the knowledge that even a relatively benign injury could end their participation in the tournament. Players are at risk and they know it.
In the 2021-22 season Chelsea had played 14 games by this stage of the year – this campaign they have already squeezed in 17 with another three to come before the opening fixture on November 20.
In that context, is the serious injury to Ben Chilwell in midweek really a surprise? Others, surely, will follow him onto the injured list before Qatar kicks off.
The unspoken fear at St George’s Park will be that an injury befalls their captain, with Spurs facing Liverpool and Leeds – two of the most intense pressing teams in the Premier League – before the World Cup. How England would love Harry Kane to be wrapped in cotton wool; how Spurs cannot afford to do anything of the sort.
England did what they could. Gareth Southgate and the FA were successful in petitioning the Premier League not to schedule any games between established “big six” teams on the final weekend before the tournament but Tottenham have two big games and Chelsea face Newcastle in a 5.30pm kick-off next weekend in a match with huge ramifications for both sides.
In England, “Mundialitis” doesn’t seem as big an issue. Antonio Conte rejected the notion that Cristian Romero has succumbed to it, insisting he would “play on one leg” after criticism from Spurs fans over the defender’s perceived lack of commitment.
Romero will miss his club’s next three fixtures but is expected to recover from a calf issue in time for Argentina’s World Cup opener against Saudi Arabia on 22 November.
The intensity of the league makes stepping off the gas almost impossible and perhaps it would be an anathema to English players anyway.
One analyst with Premier League experience told i there was no evidence the games were being played at a lower gear in the stats. The fear lurks in every mistimed tackle of course but the game in England offers no hiding place.
Take Kieran Trippier, for example. A likely starter against Iran on 21 November, here’s what he said last week about the World Cup: “I can’t take anything for granted, that’s the bottom line. I need to keep performing at a high level and hopefully get to Qatar.”
It means that Southgate and his fellow international managers will be watching through clenched fingers for the next eight days.
England, of course, has the added complication of a full round of League Cup games, with Manchester City and Chelsea meeting in midweek. Aston Villa take on Manchester United while Newcastle host Crystal Palace. Squads will be utilised, but they remain important fixtures.
Players are keeping their counsel about the burden on them but behind closed doors, there is incredulity at the demands being made to shoehorn in a mid-winter World Cup. Jamie Carragher, now an ex-professional, summed up what many active players really think this week.
The @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) November 2, 2022
pic.twitter.com/7nEtdiZdON
“I think it’s an absolute disgrace that the World Cup’s in Qatar,” he said on CBS.
“They campaigned at the time to have it in the summer but that was impossible with the temperatures so it gets moved to where it is now.
“Players all around the world, all over Europe, could get injured in the next couple of weeks. (Raphael) Varane was crying coming off the pitch at Stamford Bridge, that’s how close we are to a World Cup.
“A ten day injury is going to keep players out of the World Cup which should not be happening and it all starts with Fifa giving a World Cup to Qatar.”
It is a decision that has left the rest of football scrambling to accommodate. We can expect a few more sharp intakes of breath before the tournament kicks off.
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