Sleep expert James Wilson, who has worked at West Ham, Rotherham and Lincoln, agrees it is a concern but said the pills are counter-productive for good sleep.
“You hear stories from players and members of staff that say, ‘You should go and work with this club because every single first-team player is taking sleeping pills every single night’,” he told PA.
“They are not generally good for your sleep and they are not good for recovery so that is why they are not a good idea in football. The fact they are addictive is the cherry on the cake in saying why we should not be using sleeping pills, especially as a first line of defence.
“In society in general we don’t understand the use of sleeping pills. The use is more rife in football because the job itse…
Germany s youthful side were in slick form against Iceland but outgoing head coach Joachim Low expects more from their next two World Cup qualifiers.
Iceland proved no match for Low s side on Thursday, with early goals from Leon Goretzka and Kai Havertz paving the way for a comfortable triumph before Ilkay Gundogan rounded out a 3-0 success.
Led by the imperious Joshua Kimmich, Germany dominated throughout.
They had 81.5 per cent possession, attempted 1,053 passes – at an accuracy of 92.3 per cent – and had 15 shots compared to Iceland s eight, with Manuel Neuer only called into action twice.
From his position at the base of midfield, versatile Bayern Munich star Kimmich controlled proceedings, tallying up 176 touches, 150 successful passes and a t…
Mesut Ozil s Arsenal career appears to be over after he was left out of Mikel Arteta s 25-man Premier League squad.
The 32-year-old has not featured for the Gunners since a Premier League game against West Ham on March 7 and was left out of their Europa League squad this month.
With the transfer window now shut, Ozil whose contract expires at the end of the season will have to wait until January to find a way out of the club.
Ozil sparkled fleetingly during his first two seasons at Emirates Stadium after joining from Real Madrid in 2013, before enjoying a stellar 2015-16. He provided 19 assists and created 28 big chances in 35 Premier League games that term, drastic improvements on his previous modest returns.
He has failed to meet those sta…
Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United can only benefit from Raphael Varane retiring from international football after his distinguished France career.
The defender announced on Thursday he has pulled the plug on his time with Les Bleus, after winning 93 caps in a 10-year stint, landing World Cup glory in 2018 along the way.
The former Real Madrid centre-back, who joined United 18 months ago, featured in six of France s games at the recent World Cup in Qatar, where they were beaten on penalties by Argentina in the final.
At the age of 29, he could realistically have targeted another World Cup campaign, but Varane decided the time was right to let the new generation have its turn.
United manager Ten Hag praised his player s decision and stressed he had no…
Norwich City were given a very difficult task at their return to the Premier League. They faced the same opponent in the campaign opener as the last time they were in the English top flight. Back then, they were beaten 4-1 at Anfield; this time, Liverpool came to Carrow Road and walked away with all the points again on Saturday as Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah bagged a goal each to make the scoreline 0-3.
Mo Salah breaks another record
The Canaries were probably happier than anyone when Liverpool sold Luis Suarez to Barcelona in 2014. The brilliant Uruguayan striker was always on fire against them, at either venue, frequently scoring hat-tricks (or more) and causing their players and supporters immense frustration.
But Liverpool are a different kind of …
Pep Guardiola has hit back at UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin over comments the European governing body was right to punish the club for financial irregularities.
UEFA banned City from European competition for two years in February 2020 for breaching its Financial Fair Play rules but the ban was later overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAS found that some of the charges against City were “not established” and others were time-barred.
Yet Ceferin is adamant his organisation was correct, telling the Daily Telegraph: “We know we were right. We wouldn’t decide if we didn’t think we were right.”
His remarks came as City await a Premier League hearing after being charged with 115 breaches of their domestic competition’s profit and…
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Liverpool will play host to Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, in what will officially be round 32 of the 2022/23 Premier League season. Both teams have their reasons to work hard to nail every point they can get between now and the end of the season, so the contest should be an interesting one. It should also be said that Liverpool have a game in hand on the teams that have played every round so far, so for them, it s actually game number 31 of the campaign.
Liverpool
Much has been said about the season Liverpool have had, one that particularly stung the eyes and souls of their supporters after the previous one where they fought for all four trophies until the very end, winning two in the end.
Some point to t…
Tottenham will have an easy decision to send Gareth Bale back to Real Madrid at the end of the season unless the forward improves, according to Dimitar Berbatov.
Bale returned to Spurs on a season-long loan deal in September amid huge fanfare, but he has failed to live up to the hype thus far.
The 31-year-old has only made one Premier League start and is yet to play a full 90 minutes in any competition amid issues with injuries, fitness and form.
After reports suggested Spurs had already decided not to extend his loan for a second season, manager Jose Mourinho insisted last week there has not been one second of discussion over the issue.
But former Spurs star Berbatov believes the outcome is clear unless the Wales international embarks on a rapid turnaro…
Aleksandar Mitrovic is on his way out of Fulham after Al Hilal agreed a fee for the Serbian striker.
Cottagers boss Marco Silva announced Mitrovic would be leaving the club after the 3-0 Premier League defeat at home to Brentford.
The fee is believed to be in the region of £46million.
Silva said: “He (Mitrovic) is on the way to leave the club. I got information from the club after the match. Both clubs have got an agreement and now it’s the moment where it is the finish of Mitrovic in our club.”
The Serbian striker is understood to have pushed for a move away from the Premier League this summer in order to join the growing list of players swapping Europe for the Middle East.
He would be Al Hilal’s sixth signing this summer, after Kalidou …
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal showed they are becoming more mature in a big win at Brighton and Hove Albion that put them seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Draws for Manchester City and Newcastle United against Everton and Leeds United respectively earlier on New Year s Eve gave the Gunners a chance to increase their lead at the summit.
They grabbed it with both hands at the Amex Stadium, Bukayo Saka setting them on their way with a goal after only 66 seconds.
Inspirational captain Martin Odegaard doubled Arsenal s lead and Eddie Nketiah added a third goal, with Gabriel Martinelli getting in on the act either side of strikes from Seagulls duo Kaoru Mitoma and Evan Ferguson.
Mitoma looked to have set up a tense finale when he found the b…