The Bundesliga is going on a winter break of more than two months because of the World Cup. This unusually long period of time poses new challenges for the clubs, especially when it comes to managing the workload of the professionals.
Between the 15th and 16th match day of the Bundesliga, there are ten weeks without a competition in Germany’s top division. The postponement of the football World Cup in Qatar to winter means that there is a longer break than usual in the middle of the season. The game between RB Leipzig and FC Bayern only continues on January 20th.
Eleven clubs send players directly on vacation
A query by sportschau.de showed that the clubs deal with this long break differently. Two patterns emerge: More than half of the Bundesliga clubs (11) go on vacation from around mid-November to early December.
For example, SC Freiburg states that it is important to have sufficient regeneration time in November. The reason for this is the triple burden of the Bundesliga, Europa League and the DFB Cup. The SC Freiburg coach, Christian Streich, recently complained about the heavy workload for the players. “The screw is turned more and more until it breaks.”
Streich cited the example of Matthias Ginter. In recent years, the player has not had a vacation that lasted longer than ten days. The re-entry with training will therefore only take place on December 5th.
Trips abroad to market the Bundesliga
BVB, Hertha BSC and Eintracht Frankfurt, on the other hand, initially travel abroad after the last match day before the World Cup, also to promote the international marketing of the Bundesliga. The players who are not going to the World Cup are only free from the beginning/mid-December until the beginning of January. Exactly when the competition has already started training again.
The sportschau.de query shows that the non-World Cup players get at least two weeks of vacation at a time during the long Bundesliga winter break. Sometimes even three weeks at a time or mostly three weeks in total.
Balance between regeneration and condition
It is important to deal with the load control of the players in such a way that on the one hand they can regenerate sufficiently, but on the other hand not too much is lost in terms of condition. “The clubs have their plans for how much time is reserved for vacation and what needs to be done on vacation so that, for example, you don’t lose your full potential with easy runs.”the sports psychology expert from the German Sport University, Moritz Anderten, made clear in an interview with the sports show.
“But it is particularly important that there are enough real holiday phases after the exertion to let all these stresses fade away. But then you have to start again in good time to get back up physically.”
That’s why different clubs go into very individual planning. For example, 1. FSV Mainz 05 holds a training camp in Spain in December and January. FC Bayern is only training in small groups until the start of the holiday, as most of the professionals are represented at the World Cup in Qatar.
Borussia Mönchengladbach also forgoes a training camp. Because of the different workloads of the World Cup participants, the non-World Cup drivers and the currently little-loaded supplementary players in the squad, coach Daniel Farke has announced a very individually designed training-free time with appropriate training plans.
The course of the winter break for all Bundesliga clubs
From January, the plans of the Bundesliga clubs will be the same again, everyone will start preparing for the rest of the season on the second or third day of the new year. Here is an overview in the order of the current Bundesliga table:
FC Bayern Munich
Individual training in small groups until the start of your holiday.
Training is scheduled to start on January 2nd, 2023.
Sc freiburg
November 14th to December 4th: holiday
December 5th to Christmas: Training and non-public friendlies
January 4th to 14th: Training camp in Sotogrande (Spain)
RB Leipzig
November 15th to December 2nd: Training incl. two friendlies
03 December to New Year: holiday
Beginning of 2023: Start preparation
Eintracht Frankfurt
November 14-21: Japan Tour
November 22nd to December 9th: Training incl. friendlies
10 December to 01 January: holiday
From January 2nd: start of preparation
1.FC Union Berlin
The plans are not yet complete. Between the last matchday of 2022 and Christmas there will be both holidays and training sessions. No other trips are planned at this time. At the beginning of January, the Köpenickers will start training again.
Borussia Dortmund
November 21st to December 1st: Asia tour
December 2nd to 11th: Training
From December 12th: holiday
From January 3rd: start of preparation
VfL Wolfsburg
November 14th to 30th: Vacation
December 1st to 22nd: Training
23 December to 01 January: holiday
From January 2nd: start of preparation
Borussia Monchengladbach
14 November to 11 December: holiday
December 13: Start of training
Training camp: not applicable
Werder Bremen
Until November 20th: training and friendlies
November 21 to December 7: Holiday
December 8th to 23rd: Training
24 December to 01 January: holiday
From January 2nd: start of preparation
1.FSV Mainz 05
December 5th to 12th: Training camp in Mallorca (Spain)
January 04-11: Training camp in Marbella (Spain)
1899 Hoffenheim
November 20th to December 5th: Training break
December 6th to December 21st: Training
December 22nd to January 1st: Training break
From January 2nd: start of preparation
Bayer Leverkusen
November 13-18: Trip to St. Louis
November 18th to 30th: No training
December 1st to 18th: Training incl. two friendlies
December 19th to January 2nd: No training
From January 3rd: start of preparation
1. FC Cologne
November 16-24: USA trip
25 November to 07 December: holiday
December 8th to 23rd: Training
24 December to 01 January: holiday
From January 2nd: start of preparation
FC Augsburg
The team will be on site for a few more days after the end of the 15th matchday and then work with individual training plans until the beginning of December. Team training in Augsburg is planned for the beginning of December. The team gets a little vacation over Christmas and the turn of the year and then gets back into preparation at the beginning of January.
Hertha BSC
Until December 7th: Training and friendlies
From December 8th: vacation
January 2nd: Start of preparation
January 03-14: Training camp Bradenton (USA)
VfB Stuttgart
November 14-21: USA trip
In December (before Christmas) there will be another training week in Stuttgart.
Further scheduling is not yet complete.
VfL Bochum
November 16-27: Vacation
November 28th to December 22nd: training sessions
From January 2nd: start of preparation
January 7th to 14th: Training camp in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain)
FC Schalke 04
November 16 to November 30: Holiday
From December 1st: Training
The team has a few days off between the holidays before they go straight to the training camp at the beginning of January.