Are Serie A clubs hurt by long distance pre-season friendlies?

Date: 18th August 2013 at 1:23pm
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Audi Cup 2013Mismanagement of a team’s pre-season period can have damaging effects come March, April and May when domestic, and hopefully European, honours are at stake.

Football is now a balancing act between financial revenue and competing on the pitch; to co-exist, careful planning and scrutiny is required.

Pre-season, in the modern age, belongs to the former. The financial and public relations rewards are now hard to ignore for the suits of any club hierarchy, and it has become common for the squad to be jetted off to the other side of the world and compete for a futile sponsored cup.

For Serie A’s finest clubs, the Confederations Cup, another rather hollow tournament, will add further pressure to pre-season tours and finding the right balance to make teams competitive for the campaign ahead.

Italy’s Confederations Cup run, which was played under harsh Brazilian conditions, did not conclude until the last day in June. Consequently, players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Christian Maggio and Stephan El Shaarawy would not have returned to their respective clubs until the start of August.

El Shaarawy had returned for AC Milan’s departure to Munich, Germany for the Audi Cup; a tournament which requires each team to play 90 minute games on consecutive days. Napoli have recently suffered the same gruelling conditions having played Arsenal on August 3 and Porto on August 4 in the Emirates Cup in London. Whether it matters, Milan lost 5-3 to Manchester City, but beat Sao Paolo 1-0 in the third-place play-off.

The tie against Sao Paolo came three days before the Rossoneri were due to compete in the International Champions Cup in the USA against Chelsea. Milan had already defeated Valencia in Spain in an early round at the end of July, but lost – unsurprisingly considering the combination of air miles travelled and the short time period since their last match – 2-0 to Chelsea. On August 7, Milan played LA Galaxy in their final pre-season game, two weeks before their first Champions League qualifier.

Milan were not the only Italian team at the International Champions Cup, Juventus and Inter were also in the USA competing. Both sides lost their first two games at the tournament before Inter took the spoils in their match up August 7.

The game between Juventus and Inter took  place at the Miami Gardens stadium in Miami, Florida. The intense heat (currently 31°C in the morning) that the players encountered, not only in the stadium but also on the training ground, could not be underestimated. Sessions and preparation that can only be considered as vital for the season ahead, especially the latter stages, would have undeniably be disrupted and controlled according to the conditions.

Focus is detracted from physical preparation and PR schemes are valued higher due to each club’s desire to globalise their brand, but worrying side effects, even as nonchalant as injuries throughout the season, can play-out back home 5,000 miles away. On the other hand profits can be turned, sponsors satisfied and fan outreach maximised as proven by Arsenal.

The Gunners’ tour of Asia, which included the first visit of a Premier League side to Vietnam, was a massive PR success which was further boosted by the discovery of the ‘Running Man’; he recently made an appearance at the Emirates Stadium for the kick-off of the Emirates Cup.

In the summer of 2011, Barcelona travelled to the USA for their pre-season; it turned out to be a farcical affair. That was followed in April as Pep Guardiola’s side lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League and had suffered 38 injuries in total up to that point. Real Madrid went on to lift the title. Most telling of all, in the summer of 2012 Barcelona travelled no further than Bucharest for their pre-season matches and had actually scrapped plans to travel to Asia. Barcelona went on to lift the title.

The term ‘pre-season tour’ is now separate to ‘pre-season preparation.’  To tour is to indulge one’s self in all the offerings from marketing to recreational trips and actually playing some football. In present state, the downfalls of flying so far away from base for the upcoming Serie A season are just predictions, yet the potential weighs heavy.

 

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