It’s that time of year again. As Spain’s footballers go on their holidays until the second weekend of January and other countries follow suit, here in Britain the traditions run deep and rather than rest, the football authorities cram in as many games as possible, with Premiership games for six consecutive days around the New Year, which sees Manchester City yet again having to play twice in three days, with the small matter of three big cup games and another five league games to squeeze in too. Only the Portuguese league carries on throughout outside British shores.
As a nation we are genetically designed to show disgust at the thought of a mid-season break. It goes against everything we stand for, and games every two hours is part of the festive season, as traditional as Santa Claus, turkey dinners or vomiting in dark alleyways after a Xmas do.
This is a game of the fans, and the fans benefit from wall-to-wall football. The players are paid £200,000/£400,000 a day/minute/week, so they should stop complaining. It’s a squad game too, so managers should use their squad. Agreed?
I’ve always held a fairly similar view, but there is serious evidence to suggest that a break benefits players. This is especially true when there is a summer tournament for players to prepare for. So don’t complain when Wayne Rooney breaks his metatarsal in March – it’s all your fault. You, the consumer. It doesn’t matter how much they are paid, how primed they are as athletes, how good their club facilities and physios are – it is logical to give players rest occasionally. It is not just a case of players picking up injuries later in the season through fatigue – but it’s also an opportunity for players to shake off niggling injuries they’ve been carrying through the season – a common occurrence (Manchester City have at least one player currently performing with such a concern). With harder and poorer pitches at this time of the year, injuries become more likely, a point Alex Ferguson has made in the past. A UEFA study 10 years ago showed discrepancies in the injury rates of leagues that did and didn’t have winter breaks. I don’t think I need to point out which leagues had more injuries. There’s even some stats that suggest that after a winter break, teams score more.
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The fans are club’s supporters and therefore the fans comes first, just like in politics.
IT SHOULD STAY THE WAY IT IS !!!