The team doctors often rolled their eyes.
Actually, player X should only be used in a dosed manner, if player Y should better pause completely.
But because the coaches needed them, the professionals wanted to help in this dramatic season finale, the team doctors from Kiel and Flensburg turned a blind eye.
The Kiel master coach Filip Jicha said months ago that the longest Bundesliga season in German handball history would shorten careers. His Flensburg colleague Maik Machulla complained that the players were only there to fill out the game plan. In the season that has now ended, the wear and tear was greater than usual: Taken by the consequences of the pandemic and the overwhelming density of appointments, rows of professionals brushed the sails: Broken foot, broken thumb, torn cruciate ligament, knee damage in Flensburg; Cruciate ligament rupture, fibula fracture, ligament rupture in Kiel, to name just the worst. The THW Kiel also became champions because it spends four million euros more on its handball professionals than SG Flensburg-Handewitt and therefore has the broader squad.The SG had to make do with a thin backcourt for the past three months. Those professionals who could play did it against the advice of the doctors. SG director Jim Gottfridsson limped across the field weeks ago.
After a week of “vacation”, the national players continue, test for Tokyo, and then the Olympic tournament begins. The 2020/21 season starts in September. The Champions League with endless group games will be drawn soon. No improvement in sight. Because the associations do not want to shrink the cake. The league insists on 18 clubs, the EM and World Cup should continue to alternate annually. But the clubs make it too easy for themselves if they just point the finger at others. The top triple-load clubs need to expand their squads to spread the load across more shoulders. This is by no means financially impossible, after all, the European Cup premiums have been increased significantly. The managing directors have to act.