RALPH Hasenhuttl believes the impact of Ramadan was felt more by his players this year than in any previous season. The annual Islamic month-long festival came to an end on Wednesday.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “It was never that much a feeling of an impact for the players like this season to be honest. I had the feeling that they definitely were struggling. But maybe because when the Ramadan is in June or May or April, the days are longer, you eat later, you have to stand up very early and it is a little bit easier I think when Ramadan is in November or December. Then it has maybe not such a big impact in the performance of the players. But it’s normal when you don’t eat the whole day and you’re not allowed to drink the whole day and you have the game at 8 o’clock in the evening, we had in the last game also a break for the Ramadan players to get them a drink, then it is normal that you cannot be on the same level like the other players. They eat normal, they sleep normal and have the chance to fill up their energy with all they have to do normally. The positive thing is that Ramadan has now finished so these lads will now come back to a normal rhythm with sleeping in the night and eating in the day. This will bring them back to 100 per cent, this is for Ibra, Moussa and Sali. It’s important, I think.”
