MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 01:21:37| >> :600:2355843:2355843:

Ryan Giggs expecting disagreements with club managers

Wales start their Nations League campaign away to Finland on Thursday.

Wales boss Ryan Giggs admits club and international managers will upset each other during a congested season like no other.

The new Premier League campaign – which starts on September 12 – will be five weeks shorter than a standard season after the late end to 2019-20 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The need to cram the fixtures in has seen the planned winter break scrapped, and Giggs knows player welfare will be a huge issue heading into next summer's delayed European Championships.

Slovakia v Wales – UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying – Group E – Anton Malatinsky Stadium
Ryan Giggs says players' welfare will be an issue during the shortened new season (Tim Goode/PA)

"I'm sure I will do things that will upset the club managers and vice-versa but that comes with the territory," Giggs said.

"You try and just negate that as much as you can. The young managers, Mikel (Arteta), Frank Lampard, I played against or I know from being on coaching courses with them.

"Others I don't know so much, but we have good communication with the clubs and make sure we look after the players as much as we can.

"If there's any risk we have to take careful consideration in terms of how many games the players have played and what's their injury record.

Bayern Munich v Chelsea – UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 – Second Leg – Allianz Arena
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard manages Wales midfielder Ethan Ampadu (Sven Hoppe/DPA)

"It's not something we will get right all the time, sometimes there is a calculated gamble in there.

"We definitely do our best to look after the players' welfare, we want players fit for the summer and we don't take any chances that players are going to get injuries.

"But my job is to make sure Wales win games, so it's always a bit of a balance."

Wales return to action this week for the first time since qualifying for Euro 2020 last November.

Their Nations League campaign starts with a visit to Finland on Thursday before Bulgaria come to Cardiff three days later.

The Republic of Ireland complete the League B, Group Four section and Gareth Bale is expected to lead Wales despite falling out of favour with Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane.

"I understand the point that players could potentially go into the Euros fresh," Giggs said.

"Players want that bulk and volume of games so they feel good and strong.

"There's a fine balance between fresh and having games under your belt where you are really match fit. I just have to monitor it.

"Ideally, I want my players playing but my experience so far is you don't get that. It's important to have that big pool of players to choose."

Wales' Nations League opener only got the go ahead this week after the Finland government eased Covid-19 travel restrictions for Giggs' squad.

And Giggs is wary about what could happen next summer and whether Wales will be able to take their place in a Euro 2020 group featuring Italy, Switzerland and Turkey.

When Wales dared to dream at Euro 2016
Gareth Bale is expected to lead Wales in Finland this week despite limited game time at Real Madrid (Joe Giddens/PA)

Asked whether he was confident the Euros would take place, Giggs said: "Who knows? We have to prepare that it is going to go ahead.

"But we have seen things can change pretty quickly.

"I hope so, but you just never know with this pandemic what is going to happen in the next few months, never mind the next seven, eight, nine months.

"I'll prepare as if it is going ahead, just like I will prepare for the games going ahead next week and in October and November."

ID:412212: cacheID:412212:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9569:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Gareth Bale rocking a topknot on July 5, 2020
Read Next:
Ryan Giggs warns Gareth Bale he will not get "special treatment" in Wales camp
>
Read more about Ryan Giggs Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Arsenal34245582265677
2Liverpool33228375324374
3Manchester CityMan City32227376324473
4Aston Villa34206871502166
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs32186865491660
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle321551269521750
7Manchester UnitedMan Utd32155124748-150
8West Ham UnitedWest Ham34139125463-948
9Chelsea32138116157447
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton321111105250244
11Wolverhampton WanderersWolves33127144653-743
12Fulham34126165054-442
13Bournemouth33119134860-1242
14Crystal Palace3399154256-1436
15Brentford3498175259-735
16Everton33108153448-1430
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3479184260-1826
18Luton TownLuton3467214775-2825
19Burnley3458213769-3223
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3337233188-5716


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!