Flight of Folly: How Preseason Tours Will Have an Adverse Effect on the EPL

Not so long ago, Premier League teams would play five or six pre-season friendlies against English lower league sides. 

Humble provincial grounds with ample standing room and porter cabin refreshment stands would be packed with delighted fans looking to see some of the game's biggest stars in a more intimate environment, while the grateful host clubs would be able to pay wages for many months with the gate receipts. 

This kind of match-up still goes on today—West Ham recently visited Colchester, Aston Villa have trips to Newport County and Walsall on the docket and Stoke travel to Macclesfield next week. 

However, recent trends have dictated that Premier League clubs need to embark on international tours during the closed season in order to expand their "brand."

In 2012, top flight sides covered earned a combined 185,000 air miles, visiting everywhere from Cape Town to Kuala Lumpur. According to the Daily Mail,  Everton and Arsenal both traveled upwards of 17,000 miles, in an attempt to satiate supporters in Asian territories such as China and Indonesia.  

This season, EPL clubs will up the ante by traveling more than 200,000 collective miles (source: Daily Mail), with Australia, Japan, the USA and Thailand all benefiting from visits of members of the world's most popular football league. 

Many Premiership clubs have even ventured abroad to play the same domestic rivals they play at home: Manchester City, for example, played a double-header against Chelsea in the US soon after the conclusion of the 2012-13 season, and they will play Sunderland in the Final of the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong on Saturday. 

There may not be an officially sanctioned '39th Premier League game' yet, but clubs are clearly taking the matter into their own hands. 

These tours have many benefits: they give players an opportunity to play against a higher calibre of opposition in a low-pressure environment, while fans who don't happen to live in the UK are treated to a glimpse of their favorite stars. 

Plus, of course, let us not forget the most important reason these pre-season tours are staged: they generate a lot of money and marketing opportunities for the teams involved. And this creates more resources to improve the team. 

The benefits, however, might just be outweighed by the drawbacks. 

The principle concern is that players could become fatigued before they even start the new season. 

Take the case of Juan Mata. The Chelsea forward—who enjoyed back-to-back summers of World Cup, European U21 Championships victories and Euro 2012 victories—played in 66 games for his club in 2012-13. 

The week after the season concluded, he joined the Blues on their aforementioned tour of the USA. A few weeks later, he was called up for duty in the Confederations Cup, where he had to travel hundreds of miles between far-flung matches in Rio de Janeiro, Fortaleza and Recife. 

17 days after the emphatic final loss to Brazil, Chelsea were in Bangkok for the start of their Asian tour. Thankfully, Mata, Fernando Torres, John Obi Mikel, David Luiz and Oscar were all excused from the tour on account of their part in the Brazilian tournament. 

Even though the Spaniard and several of his hard-working teammates have been left home from the tour, their rest period comes at a time when they need to start ramping up preparation for the new season. What's more, it seems likely that Mata and company will be on the plane to Indianapolis in early August for the Guinness International Champions Cup, which may result in further games in New York City and Miami. 

Evidently, many of the English top flight's best players are not being given enough recuperation time. Not only will this have an adverse affect on the quality of football we see, but it may deter foreign talents from coming to England. 

If a high-profile player can get handsomely paid in a league such as Serie A or the Bundesliga where a well-earned winter break is incorporated into the season, why would they come to the EPL where they are worn down during a famously cluttered Christmas fixture period, and then obliged to participate in meaningless showcase matches across the world during the summer? 

It is not the frequency of games on these increasingly lengthy tours that are the issue, it is the travel to get to them. 

Anyone with a few stamps in their passport will know that international travel can be exhausting, but according to research from the Australian Institute of Sport, it can be particularly detrimental for professional sportsmen. "For the elite athlete, rapid time zone travel undoubtedly impairs their potential in competition and in some instances can severely compromise performance," reads the headline summary of their findings. 

German research, meanwhile, found that the deterioration of motor function in athletes caused by jet lag lasted as many days as the amount of time zones they had crossed. Liverpool's match at the legendary MCG in Melbourne, therefore, would take ten days to recover from, eating heavily into the players' recuperation period.

Furthermore, Research from the University of Cape Town also reveals that athletes who travel long distance are much more susceptible to illness, with incidences rising 32.5 percent in sporting fixtures played more than five hours from home. 

Additionally, players who are injured on foreign jaunts are not being helped by long haul flights. Kevin de Bruyne's knee injury wouldn't have benefited from a flight back from Thailand, while Wayne Rooney's (alleged) hamstring issue was probably not helped by the fact that he flew to Thailand for less than a day.

Footballers aren't traveling in the discomfort of coach seats, as they are privy to the most luxurious class sod seating that airlines can offer. But this relative comfort can still be damaging.   

According to The Economist, Italy traveled 4,200 miles further than Spain during Euro 2012. The intensity of the tournament combined with the travel between venues in Poland and Ukraine almost certainly impacted the Azzurri's chances in the final, which they lost 4-0. 

While the international popularity of the Premier League continues, there are no signs of international tours abating. It seems this cash cow will be milked until breaking point, which will be the point where their length and complexity start to affect the quality of football we see when there are real points to play for. And that point may be closer on the horizon than you would think.