The look of tiredness on the faces of the players has left me uninspired for many weeks. The opponent we face each week is not the other team; it is the schedule and those who make it. Do we want to make football a game of sacrifices?

Normally, injuries are not an excuse. In today’s game, it is a legitimate excuse, and that is a problem a coach cannot solve. Playing the same eleven starters each week, playing in four competitions, with no rest between games and very little help off the bench; that is an impossible problem.

The teams that play in all the competitions don’t train anymore. Is that what we want? We want them to train during the games. We want them to have zero time to prepare new ideas before they get on the pitch in front of us.

Do we want to force the managers to find a game model that is dull and slow to save the player’s legs, their energy? Is that what we want? Because that is the only sensible conclusion to this problem of injury crisis after injury crisis after injury crisis and general tiredness. The solution won’t be a game of transitions. This might force more attacking coaches to become more defensive.

Defend to counter; take advantage of teams that play with a high line. That will be exciting for a few months, but then teams will shift to playing deeper. Or maybe they won’t; maybe the game will become more open than ever before. Then it will become a race to sign the faster players. Those you can play through over the top. Someone who can beat Mickey Van de Ven in a footrace.

I assume every player is right on the edge of suffering a major injury. Right there on the edge. Most injuries are career altering. One major hamstring injury and your explosiveness is gone. Knowing that doesn’t make this more entertaining.

We aren’t in The Colosseum watching Ollie Watkins and Mohammed Kudus fight off a lion; we are at Villa Park watching Aston Villa versus West Ham. I want to see every player at their peak. Anything below that is not only a disservice to them and their bodies; it is a disservice to the fans, to us.