Manchester City's Roberto Mancini and Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti have added their voices to those who are calling for the English Premier League to allow winter breaks...
Whereas footballers in Europe’s top leagues benefit from a winter break annually after a long year of work, players in the English Premier League must think of duplicating their efforts on the pitch as the fixtures list gets packed by the end of December.
Chelsea, for example, will have to play away to Arsenal and at home to Bolton in the space of 48 hours whereas they have 4 matches coming up in total between December 27 and January 5. The situation is the same for Manchester City (like for all English Premier League contenders) who must face Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Blackpool and Arsenal inside 10 days.
Expectedly, Chelsea and Manchester City’s managers have become the latest people to criticize England’s Christmas agenda in the Premier League. Knowing that Monday’s match against Arsenal will require a lot of strength from Chelsea based on the toughness of the encounter, Coach Carlo Ancelotti has avowed his anger about the timing as the Blues will have to play Bolton two days later. ESPNsoccernet quoted the Italian man as saying during an interview with the media:
“I want to say something about the Bolton game, because we won't have the possibility to recover. We will have two days, compared to Bolton who, unfortunately, play on the 26th. We play on the 27th.
“That's not a good thing, to have one day less to recover. I'm not happy about that.”
Echoing Carlo Ancelotti’s frustration at the heavy agenda for clubs in the English Premier League, Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini told reporters on a more understanding tone than his Italian compatriot:
“In England, Boxing Day games are very important. But, maybe English players need a rest sometimes.
“It might not be Boxing Day, but maybe in January, you could have a week off for all the players. I think that would be a good opportunity for them.”
It would mean redemption for the English Premier League’s exhausted players should Roberto Mancini’s suggestion be executed in future.
Chelsea, for example, will have to play away to Arsenal and at home to Bolton in the space of 48 hours whereas they have 4 matches coming up in total between December 27 and January 5. The situation is the same for Manchester City (like for all English Premier League contenders) who must face Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Blackpool and Arsenal inside 10 days.
Expectedly, Chelsea and Manchester City’s managers have become the latest people to criticize England’s Christmas agenda in the Premier League. Knowing that Monday’s match against Arsenal will require a lot of strength from Chelsea based on the toughness of the encounter, Coach Carlo Ancelotti has avowed his anger about the timing as the Blues will have to play Bolton two days later. ESPNsoccernet quoted the Italian man as saying during an interview with the media:
“I want to say something about the Bolton game, because we won't have the possibility to recover. We will have two days, compared to Bolton who, unfortunately, play on the 26th. We play on the 27th.
“That's not a good thing, to have one day less to recover. I'm not happy about that.”
Echoing Carlo Ancelotti’s frustration at the heavy agenda for clubs in the English Premier League, Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini told reporters on a more understanding tone than his Italian compatriot:
“In England, Boxing Day games are very important. But, maybe English players need a rest sometimes.
“It might not be Boxing Day, but maybe in January, you could have a week off for all the players. I think that would be a good opportunity for them.”
It would mean redemption for the English Premier League’s exhausted players should Roberto Mancini’s suggestion be executed in future.
