Give Premier League a break, pleads Arsène Wenger

Arsène Wenger has renewed his call for an extended winter break in European club football.

Give Premier League a break, pleads Arsène Wenger
Up in arms: Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger wants the Premier League to be played between February and November Credit: Photo: ACTION IMAGES

For Wenger, the overriding concern has always been the need for the players to have a proper rest during the season, but the recent adverse weather has also highlighted another downside to scheduling so many matches during the festive period.

Eight Premier League matches were postponed over the weekend because of snow and ice, with league officials now liaising with those affected clubs in an attempt to find alternative dates. Last season, seven matches were lost on the weekend of Jan 7-8 because of similarly freezing conditions but were easily rescheduled even during what was a shortened season due to the World Cup.

It is understood that the League has at least three or four possible contingency dates and is confident that it will be possible to catch up on the backlog with minimal disruption. The only real concern is Blackpool, who have no undersoil heating and have already had two home matches postponed due to the weather.

Wenger believes that the authorities should consider radical future changes to the football calendar, with matches played between February and November.

The Arsenal manager made the suggestion during an interview with this month’s Arsenal Magazine in response to a question about the possibility of playing the World Cup in Qatar during the winter.

Despite the disruption to the European leagues, Wenger said that he would have no problem with Fifa rescheduling the 2022 World Cup so that it was played in January.

“That [the heat in Qatar] is a big problem,” said Wenger. “They have spoken about maybe having the World Cup in the winter. Why not? I’m not against that at all.

“But I think overall, in the whole world, football should be played between February and November, and then you could organise it for winter.”

It is understood that Wenger still believes there should be a break between seasons during the summer, but would also like a prolonged winter period for players to recover from intense fixture demands.