The EPL Winter Break and how it hurts EPL clubs

[Catfish]

Lehmann: Winter break aided Bayern
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=261766&lid=NewsHeadline&sub=Lehmann:+Winter+break+aided+Bayern&navlid=&sublid=&Title=Lehmann:+Winter+break+aided+Bayern


I am not making excuses, but I'm sure EPL players would enjoy a 4-6 week break like many other European leagues have. It might also cut down on injuries.

[Rick B]

Lehmann: Winter break aided Bayern
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=261766&lid=NewsHeadline&sub=Lehmann:+Winter+break+aided+Bayern&navlid=&sublid=&Title=Lehmann:+Winter+break+aided+Bayern


I am not making excuses, but I'm sure EPL players would enjoy a 4-6 week break like many other European leagues have. It might also cut down on injuries.

I'm sure they would, but I'm personally against this. In England it's a long standing tradition to watch football on Boxing Day. this will hopefuly never change. I love going to 3 games in a week, it makes the Christmas season even better.

[michaec]

There's no real reason why the winter break would have to be over Christmas. A couple of weeks in January, say directly after the third round of the cup would do the trick. Personally, I wouldn't mind the break over Christmas as I go home and miss at least one game (why do we always seem to play at home on Boxing Day?), but I understand it is a tradition held dear by many supporters in this country.

[Achtung]

Boxing Day could still be played, and perhaps be the end of the first half of the season. Give them even just two weeks off, and resume hostilities in mid-January. I'm sure a lot of managers, especially those competiting in Europe (and generally the most influential ones) would be in favor of such a rest. Sven might complain about the season ending later, but I'm sure a rest for his top stars wouldn't hurt England's chances.

[nicephoras]

I don't know; its all relative. For all the complaining about no winter break hurting English teams, Barcelona had to play 6 games in 17 days recently. Why? Because they have a winter break, and have to squeeze more games in. Everyone plays 38 league games. If you're going to have a 3 week break, you have to find room for those games somehow.

[Cannon]

I like the winter break idea. I think the break can help players overcome minor injuries that just don't go away with games at least once a week. If you add the psychological impact of a few weeks away from the title race and desperate cup battles, I think it is well worth a few extra games at other times in the season.

If I could change the rules in the EPL, I'd have a winter break, allow 7 players available for subs, and let teams make 3 subs plus the GK in a game. Oh to be king for a day.

[sinner78]

Of course playing a brutal winter schedule hurts us!!!
Its this period that routinely ********s us in the champions league knockout phase and end of season international tournies.
We always go into the crunch period with knackered or injured players .
people actually wonder why we dont perform as well. what a laugh.

The germans are on the beach in the canary islands in january and it aint no coincidence that they always have fresher players at crunch time .

[junkie_xl]

The germans are on the beach in the canary islands in january and it aint no coincidence that they always have fresher players at crunch time .

i think inzaghi and some other milan players were caught in the tsunami this year during the break in asia...couldnt have been too much fun...there goes united's excuse ;)

[pookspur]

There's no real reason why the winter break would have to be over Christmas. A couple of weeks in January, say directly after the third round of the cup would do the trick. Personally, I wouldn't mind the break over Christmas as I go home and miss at least one game (why do we always seem to play at home on Boxing Day?), but I understand it is a tradition held dear by many supporters in this country.

exactly right. if there must be winter break, make it in january. the holiday matches are a staple of the holidays. not expendable.

[Bluto11]

Of course playing a brutal winter schedule hurts us!!!
Its this period that routinely ********s us in the champions league knockout phase and end of season international tournies.
We always go into the crunch period with knackered or injured players .
people actually wonder why we dont perform as well. what a laugh.

The germans are on the beach in the canary islands in january and it aint no coincidence that they always have fresher players at crunch time .
and then they play more games towards the end of the season when it really is crunch time.

[antifan]

Boxing Day could still be played, and perhaps be the end of the first half of the season. Give them even just two weeks off, and resume hostilities in mid-January. I'm sure a lot of managers, especially those competiting in Europe (and generally the most influential ones) would be in favor of such a rest. Sven might complain about the season ending later, but I'm sure a rest for his top stars wouldn't hurt England's chances.
I totally agree with Achtung, two weeks is plenty of rest and after the Boxing Day and New Year fixtures is the perfect time. It would be so easy to do, i don't know why its hasn't been done yet.

[Przybylinski]

They already get a good long summer break that puts us all out for several months. Maybe it's selfish, but I'd rather see them play and not take a break. The best method of dealing with exhaustion is to let individual players take some time off. These guys are young. I used to play all year around practicing or playing every day but Sunday. I didn't really burn out at all and at their age they shouldn't either. Plus they get paid several thousands of times more money than I did. :)

What they need to do is get a break from internationals and some of the other competitions through that time. Spreading it out to one match a week should be plenty. That is besides the week of Boxing Day.

[n4100]

I don't see two months as a real long break. You figure they're done about the 15th of May and training starts about the 15th of July. Factor in a WC or EC every other year, and that's even less time off in the summer.

One of the biggest differences between the Premiership and the Bundesliga is the fact that we take weekends to play our FA Cup games, whereas the Bundesliga only uses 1 weekend for the Dfb Pokal, with the rest of the games coming midweek (Bayern's 7-0 crushing of Frieburg last week). That still means they are playing games midweek like ourselves, but they already know the schedule ahead of time and aren't rescheduling games like teams in the Prem do because of the FA Cup. Also, the Bundesliga as I recall only has 18 teams compared to 20.

[nicephoras]

I have to ask again. If all leagues have 20 teams, and thus play 38 games, how exactly does a break help? The same number of games have to be squeezed in, and the EPL usually starts earlier than the other leagues, too. During the time when they played us, Barcelona played something like 6 games in 18 days. Do you think they welcome that winter break, or do you think they'd prefer to have games more spaced out?
I don't buy this. ManUtd didn't lose to Milan because Italy had a couple of weeks off. They lost because they weren't as good.

[antifan]

I have to ask again. If all leagues have 20 teams, and thus play 38 games, how exactly does a break help? The same number of games have to be squeezed in, and the EPL usually starts earlier than the other leagues, too. During the time when they played us, Barcelona played something like 6 games in 18 days. Do you think they welcome that winter break, or do you think they'd prefer to have games more spaced out?
I don't buy this. ManUtd didn't lose to Milan because Italy had a couple of weeks off. They lost because they weren't as good.
I agree and disagree at the same time. I wouldn't mind cutting the EPL down to 18 teams, with a 2 up 2 down relegation scheme. Lets face it, the promoted teams are mostly cannon fodder and have little chance of staying up. With 18 teams a winter break of two weeks is no prob, and there will be less congestion. Just my two cents.

[sinner78]

I agree and disagree at the same time. I wouldn't mind cutting the EPL down to 18 teams, with a 2 up 2 down relegation scheme. Lets face it, the promoted teams are mostly cannon fodder and have little chance of staying up. With 18 teams a winter break of two weeks is no prob, and there will be less congestion. Just my two cents.


You gotta have 3 places for promotion or teams in the lower leagues dont have anything to play for .Having an almost 'closed shop' premiership is bullsh1t.although I agree it should be cut to 18 teams.

As for the topic.
Having a winter break makes all the difference .It gives players a chance to recharge the batteries and avoid playing during the most brutal weather conditions.
Premiership plays non-stop from start to finish for like 9 months .
No wonder the players are totally wasted at the end of the season .This seriously damages us in champions league and international tournies .
It does nothing for the quality of play when teams are forced to have a hectic winter schedule .

[antifan]

You gotta have 3 places for promotion or teams in the lower leagues dont have anything to play for .Having an almost 'closed shop' premiership is bullsh1t.although I agree it should be cut to 18 teams.
What's really the difference between 2 and 3 promotion places? Would teams really have less to play for? I would recommend automatic promotion only for the Champions with spots 2-5 going into a playoff for the other spot. That would maintain the same excitement and competion. Also, why should a team get automatic promotion for coming in second? That's getting the same reward as the winner, for a lesser performance.

[pookspur]

Also, why should a team get automatic promotion for coming in second? That's getting the same reward as the winner, for a lesser performance.

(i don't mean to sound flippant, but...)

as a reward for being better than places 3-6.

and it's really not the same reward as the winner. the winner gets a trophy - which is what clubs in a league are fundamentally competing for.

[antifan]

(i don't mean to sound flippant, but...)

as a reward for being better than places 3-6.

and it's really not the same reward as the winner. the winner gets a trophy - which is what clubs in a league are fundamentally competing for.
I don't know, from fans of lower league clubs that i've known, all they care about is getting promoted. Going up as champions is an added bonus but i think it doesn't matter to teams how they get there they just want to play with the big boys in the EPL. I like the playoffs because it give teams something to play for, but i don't think that the 2nd place team should necessarily have an automatic spot. And why should the 6th place team have a place in the playoff? To me it really makes no difference. I like that smaller clubs have an opportunity to go up, but i think that if their were only 18 teams it would be better to have a little more stability. Just my opinion.

[RichardL]

I agree and disagree at the same time. I wouldn't mind cutting the EPL down to 18 teams, with a 2 up 2 down relegation scheme. Lets face it, the promoted teams are mostly cannon fodder and have little chance of staying up. .
The number of teams has nothing to do with it. The only reason the bottom clubs have "little chance" is because the premiership clubs get £20 million+ TV money every year to build teams, while CCC clubs don't. You could have a little team from a village in Cornwall pulling in 83 fans a week in the premiership, and they'd still have more financial clout than a CCC team getting 40,000 at every game.

I think the only way to have a winter break would be to schedule no premiership games in january, with a gap between the FA Cup 3rd and 4th rounds. Of course some teams would be involved in 3rd round replays, so it's not ideal, but it'd help. Start the season a week earlier, end a week later, and you only have to squeeze one midweek game somewhere.