On the one hand we have Premier League managers complaining, perhaps rightly so, about fixture congestion. On the other hand we have the same managers calling for a winter break. The words ‘having’, ‘cake’ and ‘eating’ spring to mind. I don’t think you’ll find many managers, players or fans who, at some point or other, have not felt aggrieved by the often unkind fixture list.
It is not uncommon in England to play three games a week, particularly if you happen to play in European competitions as well as domestic ones. However just how a winter break, which would mean the same amount of seasonal games having to be played in a shorter amount of time, would help fixture congestion?
Whilst admitting that the hectic Christmas schedule is part of ‘the charm and craziness of English football’ the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complains on at least a bi-annual basis about the lack of breathing space in between games. I don’t begrudge him that. His complaints, along with those of Roberto Mancini and many other managers are perfectly valid. The situation is often farcical; however their demands for a winter break seem juxtaposed with said complaints. You could argue that a short two week break, like the one Wenger has called for, involving ‘a week to rest and a week to prepare’ would allow the players to better deal with the rigours of having to play quite so much football.
However in taking those two weeks in January the players will have to make up for it at some other time of the year. Many managers seem to believe that in adding a winter break they would be adding weeks on to the year. To accuse the FA and the Premier League of failing to give a winter break, like they have in continental leagues, and also failing to provide an acceptable fixture list seems rather childish without the provision of a proposed solution to the problem of where to place these games.