Player Recovery and Load Management

What MLS Can Teach Soccer Coaches About Player Recovery and Load Management

Lionel Messi being ruled out of the 2026 MLS All-Star Game generated predictable headlines. Supporters wanted to see Major League Soccer’s biggest global name. Broadcasters wanted the star attraction, while the occasion was designed to showcase the league’s leading players against Liga MX.

From a soccer coaching and performance perspective, however, the more important story was not that Messi would miss the game. It was that rest was publicly accepted as a legitimate high-performance decision.

Messi and his Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul were withdrawn as they continued to recover following Argentina’s demanding run to the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. Their absence came at the end of an extraordinary period for North American soccer. MLS paused regular-season competition from 25 May until 16 July, but that pause did not represent a holiday for its international players. A league-record 45 MLS players from 22 clubs represented 17 countries at the tournament.

Some players returned to their clubs following the group stage. Others completed knockout matches, additional travel, recovery sessions, media responsibilities and emotionally intense international campaigns. Messi and De Paul progressed all the way to the final.

This creates one of the most important soccer training-load questions of 2026: how should a club reintegrate a player who has completed a major international tournament after the domestic season has already restarted?

The simplistic response is to provide several days away and then place the player directly back into normal team training. The professional response must be more individualised. Tournament recovery is not merely the absence of training. It involves managing accumulated match exposure, neuromuscular fatigue, disrupted sleep, travel, psychological stress, tactical reintegration and the gradual restoration of the physical qualities required to perform at club level.

For coaches working at every level of soccer, Messi’s absence provides a valuable reminder. Player availability is not maximised by selecting a player at every possible opportunity. It is maximised by making enough good decisions across the full competitive season.

Why Rest Is a Performance Decision, Not a Sign of Weakness

Modern soccer frequently celebrates availability while misunderstanding readiness. A player may be medically healthy, willing to train and technically available for selection while remaining some distance from his optimal physical or psychological condition.

That distinction becomes particularly important following a major international tournament.

A World Cup campaign compresses multiple forms of stress into a relatively short period. Players complete high-intensity matches, repeated warm-ups, recovery sessions, tactical meetings, travel and media responsibilities while living under constant public scrutiny. The physical demand is combined with the emotional pressure of representing a country in the sport’s biggest competition.

The load is also different for every squad member. A starter who plays six or seven matches carries a different burden from an unused substitute. However, the substitute may require a carefully planned conditioning block because normal training exposure has been restricted during the tournament.

Position also influences the nature of the accumulated demand. Central defenders, wide players, central midfielders, forwards and goalkeepers experience different running profiles, accelerations, decelerations, contacts and high-intensity actions. Two players who both completed 90 minutes may therefore have experienced very different physical costs.

Post-tournament planning cannot be solved through one rule for the entire squad. The number of days since the player’s final match is relevant, but it is not sufficient. Coaches and practitioners should consider minutes played, high-speed running exposure, sprint actions, accelerations, decelerations, previous injury history, travel, sleep opportunity, soreness and the player’s psychological response to the tournament.

Post-match fatigue is multifactorial. It can include glycogen depletion, muscle damage, dehydration, neuromuscular impairment and mental fatigue. Recent research has shown that some physical impairments may remain evident 72 hours after professional soccer match play, with considerable variation between individual recovery profiles. Research into fixture congestion has also identified an increased overall injury incidence during congested periods, although the findings are not identical across every competition, injury type or study design.

The responsible conclusion is not that every player is automatically at risk after every demanding period. It is that reduced recovery time increases uncertainty and places greater importance on individualised decision-making.

Messi’s withdrawal should not be interpreted as proof that he was injured or incapable of playing. The confirmed reason was continued recovery following Argentina’s progress to the World Cup final. Planned rest can be preventative, restorative and performance-focused.

Waiting until a player reports pain or sustains an injury is not effective load management. It is a reaction after the warning signs have become harder to ignore.

The ISSPF Certificate in Soccer Training Load Management examines the balance between fitness, freshness, performance and injury-risk reduction. Its central message is highly relevant to this situation: the objective is not simply to make training load lower. The objective is to make it appropriate for the individual player, the competitive schedule and the performance demands that are approaching.

Returning to Training Is Not the Same as Returning to Performance

One of the most common mistakes in soccer is treating the first completed training session as evidence that a player has fully recovered.

Training participation demonstrates that the player tolerated that particular exposure. It does not automatically prove that the player can repeat high-intensity actions, recover between sessions, absorb contact, make decisions at match speed and then perform again several days later.

For a player returning from the World Cup, the first challenge is establishing exactly what he is returning from.

A player eliminated during the group stage may have received a short break before following an individual training programme. A finalist may have remained inside a competition-focused cycle until the final day of the tournament. Another squad member may have travelled extensively but played very few minutes, potentially losing some of the high-speed and soccer-specific loading normally accumulated through club training.

These players should not receive identical reintegration programmes.

The monitoring process should combine information rather than search for one perfect measurement. External-load data can describe total distance, high-speed running, sprint exposure, accelerations and decelerations. Internal-load measures can indicate how demanding the work was for that individual. Short wellness questionnaires can provide context around sleep, soreness, mood, stress and perceived fatigue.

Movement testing or neuromuscular assessments may add another perspective, provided the tests are reliable, familiar to the player and compared with meaningful individual reference values. Research suggests that simple athlete self-report measures, selected heart-rate-derived information and carefully chosen neuromuscular tests can support fatigue monitoring, but no single tool should be treated as a complete representation of player readiness.

The data should improve the conversation rather than end it.

A player may report feeling fresh because he desperately wants to play. Another may produce normal GPS outputs but appear slow to recognise pressure, recover position or react to transitions. The head coach sees tactical sharpness. The performance team sees the loading history. Medical staff understand the player’s health and injury context. The player supplies information that no tracking device can fully capture.

The strongest decision emerges when these perspectives are shared rather than defended within separate departments.

This is where the expertise of ISSPF faculty member Jack Sharkey becomes particularly relevant. His experience across elite club and international football includes physical preparation, monitoring systems and return-to-play frameworks. Within the ISSPF Master’s Certificate in Soccer Performance Analysis, Sharkey delivers content on a multi-modal approach to quantifying external load, weekly microcycle intensity and preparing players to meet the demands of training during reintegration.

The phrase “multi-modal” is important. No individual metric can explain readiness on its own.

Sleep also deserves greater attention following an international tournament. Late kick-offs, emotional arousal, travel, unfamiliar accommodation and changes in routine can reduce sleep duration or quality. Research examining elite athletes has identified competition, increased training load, early starts and travel as common sleep disruptors.

Coaches may be unable to control the tournament schedule, but they can control whether the returning player is exposed to unnecessary early sessions, excessive meetings or poorly timed high-load training.

The same principle applies to recovery interventions. Hydration, nutrition and sleep address recognised mechanisms associated with fatigue. Massage, cold-water immersion, mobility and active recovery may help in specific circumstances, especially in relation to perceived soreness, but they should not become recovery theatre.

An impressive recovery facility cannot compensate for an inappropriate training week.

The ISSPF article Recovery Science: Maximizing Player Readiness Between Matches provides a broader overview of sleep, hydration, nutrition, active recovery and individualised load management. These areas should be treated as parts of one coordinated process rather than separate services delivered to the player.

A Coach-Led Framework for Post-Tournament Reintegration

The best post-tournament plan is not a rigid seven-day template. It is a decision-making framework that moves the player from recovery into preparation and from preparation into competitive performance.

The process should begin before the player returns to the club. International and club performance teams should exchange verified information covering match minutes, training exposure, injuries, knocks, treatment, travel and the final days of the tournament.

Where communication is limited, the club should avoid filling the gaps with assumptions. A short return interview can establish what the player completed, how he slept, what he currently feels and what he believes he needs.

The first phase should restore routine without rushing to prove fitness. This may include a medical review, low-load movement, mobility, individual technical work and gradual exposure to the club environment.

For some players, complete rest may be appropriate. For others, particularly those who received limited tournament minutes, carefully prescribed conditioning may be necessary. Rest and training are not opposites. Both can be used to correct the player’s current performance profile.

The next phase should rebuild the exposures that matter for competition.

Soccer fitness is not demonstrated solely through total distance. Players require exposure to accelerations, decelerations, high-speed running, sprinting, changes of direction, duels and technical actions under pressure. These qualities should be progressively developed rather than suddenly tested.

Protecting a player from all intensity for too long can leave him underprepared. Restoring every demand in one session creates an equally avoidable concentration of stress.

The technical staff must also reconnect the player with the club’s game model. A World Cup player returns from a different coaching language, tactical system and set of role expectations. Even the most experienced player requires reminders of pressing triggers, build-up positions, rest-defence responsibilities, set plays and relationships with teammates.

Tactical reintegration is part of load management. Poor positioning and delayed decisions can produce unnecessary running, emergency accelerations and avoidable physical contacts.

Selection should therefore be based on what the player is prepared to do rather than simply whether he is available. The most appropriate return might involve a full start, a controlled substitute appearance, an additional training week or a planned progression of minutes across several fixtures.

The intended match role should be reflected in the preparation.

Coaches must also distinguish between short-term freshness and long-term robustness. A player may feel excellent after several days away because general fatigue has reduced, but still lack recent sprint exposure or repeated soccer actions. Another player may report normal soreness while demonstrating stable physical outputs and strong tactical sharpness.

Readiness is a profile. It is not one feeling, one test result or one GPS number.

Communication surrounding the decision is equally important. Resting an influential player can create external pressure, particularly when the missed fixture is a major commercial or showcase event. The club should provide the player with a clear rationale and maintain a consistent message across its coaching, performance and medical teams.

Internally, the language should emphasise preparation for the next meaningful performance rather than protection from soccer.

That approach reflects the high-performance systems discussed by Darcy Norman, Director of Performance at Chicago Fire FC, in the ISSPF Soccer Insights Podcast. Norman’s discussion explores what is required to build high performance inside elite football environments. The practical message is that performance is not created by collecting the greatest number of technologies. It is created by connecting people, information and decisions within the realities of a soccer club.

Messi’s All-Star absence will eventually be replaced by another headline: his return to Inter Miami, his next goal or his next decisive performance.

For coaches, however, the lesson should remain.

The aim is not to make players train as much as possible. It is to expose them to the right work, at the right time and in the right condition, ensuring their defining qualities remain available when competition demands them.

The post-World Cup period makes this challenge more visible, but the principle applies throughout soccer. It applies following international windows, congested weeks, long-distance travel, injury rehabilitation and emotionally demanding matches. It applies to global stars, academy players and part-time footballers.

The available technology will change according to the environment, but the coaching questions remain remarkably consistent:

What has this player completed? What has that exposure cost him? What does he need next? What evidence supports the decision? How will we recognise when the plan needs to change?

Resting a player can appear conservative from outside the team environment. Within a high-performance programme, it can be one of the most ambitious decisions a coach makes because it prioritises sustained performance over one additional appearance.

Develop a clearer, evidence-informed approach to planning, monitoring and adjusting player workloads with the ISSPF Certificate in Soccer Training Load Management. Learn how coaches and practitioners can balance fitness, freshness, injury-risk reduction and match preparation throughout the competitive season.

TAKE THE COURSE NOW

References (5)

Drayton, A.M., Hamad, M.J. and Spyrou, K. (2025) ‘The time course of postmatch physical impairments in professional soccer: A systematic review’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 39(11), pp. e1345–e1355.

Nédélec, M., McCall, A., Carling, C., Le Gall, F., Berthoin, S. and Dupont, G. (2013) ‘Recovery in soccer: Part II—Recovery strategies’, Sports Medicine, 43(1), pp. 9–22.

Page, R.M., Field, A., Langley, B., Harper, L.D. and Julian, R. (2023) ‘The effects of fixture congestion on injury in professional male soccer: A systematic review’, Sports Medicine, 53(3), pp. 667–685.

Roberts, S.S.H., Teo, W.-P. and Warmington, S.A. (2019) ‘Effects of training and competition on the sleep of elite athletes: A systematic review and meta-analysis’, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(8), pp. 513–522.

Thorpe, R.T., Atkinson, G., Drust, B. and Gregson, W. (2017) ‘Monitoring fatigue status in elite team-sport athletes: Implications for practice’, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 12(Suppl. 2), pp. S2-27–S2-34.