"Krone" column

Herzog on Alaba fuss: “Completely dispensable!”

Austria's record team player Andreas Herzog dedicates his latest column to David Alaba and is annoyed by "stupid headlines".(Bild: GEPA)

Stupid headlines like this, created by journalists who take themselves too seriously, are completely dispensable. It doesn't help anyone. Even in my day, some "experts" conjured up the end of my career after my toe injury, after which I continued to play for many years. Sure, the injury was different, but one thing remained the same: No doctor, no physio and certainly no journalist knows how the player is really doing - only David himself knows that, nobody knows his body better.

There has been wild speculation surrounding David Alaba over the past few days.(Bild: EPA)

The important thing is that he returns 100 percent fit. Whether that takes two months longer should not matter. Because from the moment he returns, his body will have to adapt to an enormous workload again. There will be more and more games, the program will become more and more intense. For me, it's no wonder that players like Alaba, Rodri and Carvajal have been seriously injured. They've been in constant action for years, they have as many games at 30 as we used to have at 34, 35. It's clear that this doesn't leave the body unscathed.

If someone comes up with the American sports again: yes, they play a lot too. But you can't compare the two. Both basketball and ice hockey have a long summer break and the players are in action for a shorter period of time per game. And there are no "specialties" in soccer such as the Nations League, Club World Cup or several cup competitions like in England.