Nottingham Forest’s Xaver Schlager goes on rant about international duty

Nottingham Forest‘s Xaver Schlager has expressed his frustration about several topics while with Austria during this international break. 

The midfielder, who made his national team debut in 2018, missed only one match since last November. He was an unused substitute in Austria’s 5-1 friendly win over Ghana in March.

During this international break, the Nottingham Forest man has played every minute in all four matches.

Austria registered two wins over Israel and Kosovo [both at home] and then drew the two away matches against the Republic and Ireland and Kosovo [second time]. The 29-year-old had captained in the second and the third fixture.

The last fixture of this international break ended in a 1-1 draw against Kosovo at the Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri on Sunday.

Nottingham Forest man worried about burning out

Austria played these four matches in a smaller number of days than most, and this meant the team was not at their best against Kosovo on Sunday. After the match, Xaver Schlager spoke to ORF to share his frustration over several topics. Heute have relayed his comments.

He wasn’t happy about Austria’s performance yesterday and explained the reason for the same.

“The game was incredibly close to the limit. Playing directly was impossible; every ball you controlled bounced erratically. It had little to do with football. It was basically just hoofing the ball forward, fighting, and hoping the referee would call something,” he said.

The midfielder has also sent a message to the fans as he rants about the issues faced during this international break. He also blames the poor pitch for making it worse in their latest draw.

Schlager explained: “I feel sorry for everyone who had to watch that today. It was truly awful.”

“It’s the fourth game in two weeks, that’s insane. Then they tell you to conserve energy, keep the ball moving – and then you have a pitch you can’t play on. What am I supposed to say to that?”

“Then I don’t need to play football if I have a two-week window and then have a pitch like that. I’m sorry, but then I might as well stay home and do something better.”

Nottingham Forest signing slams at officials 

Xaver Schlager was also unhappy with the match officials, especially VAR, after Sunday’s draw.

“Apparently, VAR doesn’t exist either. Someone hits me, even if it’s not intentional. But that’s what VAR is for. Nobody dares to do anything, I don’t know, as long as we have games, games, games. But how we feel about it is ultimately irrelevant,” he added.

Oliver Glasner’s side signed the Austrian for free in the summer window, after beating AFC Bournemouth for his signature. He has played 466 minutes from six matches for the Reds so far.

Had he joined the Cherries, Schlager would have also played in the Europa League this season.