2 Week Premiership break next season

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/3439739.stm

7 days of rest, with 6 days in training. So only one game would be lost.

 

It's just catering for the soft European players who don't want to play through the awfully cold winter.

IF this effects the Boxing Day and new year match's I'll be extremly disapointed.

 

Yeah, especially given that the weather doesn't get really cold until a month later.

 

What is Houllier, Wenger, Fergie, et al going to blame losses on now??

 

Wimps!

 

cant personally see how this will really be of benefit for the league

 

Uh less fatigue on our players thus saving them for the euro campaign.

Premiership players play too many games as it is.

I welcome this break.

(I will leave my league cup rant for another thread).

 

they get paid to do nothing but train and play a 90 minute match, quite crying that they get tired, if they do then they are in the wrong profession

 

Uh fatigue is a real issue especially the number of games the best team in england are forced to play.

And they are not crying.

I am pointing out the simple fact that I would rather save my players for europe than play some Carling cup fixture against Bury.

Whether you want to admit it or not players wear down as the season goes on.

 

So this is just for the benifit of those two or three teams who play extended seasons in Europe? Teams which already operate a squad rotation system to rest their players anyway?

If they want a rest in the middle of January they could always do it the traditional way, i.e get knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup and sit out the next round.

 

No it helps all teams

I was glad when Uefa did away with the second group stage and I am glad about this.

Stop thinking of this as a soft versus hard issue.

Its about protecting your investment.

The season is long and the offseason is short. Any rest this players get help out us fans since it keeps our favorites on the pitch and of the medics table.

 

Perhaps if players spent a little less time on money spinning tours of the US and the Far East during the off season they might have more energy for the proper season.

 

Even though as an American I would not get to see these teams as much I agree.

But lets be realistic these teams who compete at the highest level need to do these things in order make themselves commercially competitive.

 

Anyone who goes to work every day's first reaction will naturally to be "Those overpaid, underworked layabouts! They should want to play every day!" While every day might be a bit much, I don't think it's too much to ask that players play twice a week for the ten months of the football season. The top teams' players get rest periods when the manager specifically rests them or through suspensions etc. so I can't see their problem. The lesser teams will generally have less games to play due to no European commitments, shorter cup runs etc. And any teams who go to the other side of the world on money-spinning pre-season (or for that matter winter break) tours should be told to shut up when they whinge about player fatigue.

 

Doesnt this mean there going to have to add a set of mid-week games into the callender or are they going to just bung them on at the end of the season. Thus making the season longer than it would of been and giving them the oppertunity to either whinge that the season has become too long or to whinge that there is too many fixtures when there playing Premier League matches once every 3 day's to make up for the one they had a break for.

Stop trying to make this league European, We Don't want their system and if were playing so many match's why are Serie A increasing their division to 20 teams next year making all the top European leagues equall.

 

They already have a break...it's called the offseason! Whining, overpaid babies! No wonder so many of my countrymen think soccer is a wussy/Euro sport. "We need a break..." Dammit-you're in your freaking Twenties...shut up and kick the ball..........

 

You're apparently unaware of the fundamentals of the human body.

My thought...it's an experiment. Two years, only one week off. Let's see how it works out. I expect it'll be good.

Also, won't this help the groundskeepers? That might be a consideration too.

 

Are you one of those guys who thinks European is synonymous with "wussy"??

I don't know how much you've personally played, but this is an extremely physically demanding sport that takes alot out of you, especially the English game.

Football clubs play a minimum of 38 games per season...add in the League Cup, the FA Cup and any European games your team may be in and that's a hell of alot of games. Not only that, but it's nice to have a break where the team, staff and fans can sort of sit back and view things (much like the all-star break in baseball). I'm totally for this.

 

So you're saying they should just get rid of the preseason? Thus leading to players taking a reasonably long time (at least good 3 weeks) to get anywhere near top form, thus hurting them i nthe earlier stages of Europe?

Also, ever notice how players get more injuries towards the end of the season? (see: Wes Brown, Marc Vivien-Foe). The more tired you are, the more suseptible to injury you are, it's that simple.

 

Come back to us when Charlton have a good Cup run and a European campaign, and we'll see what your opinion is then.

 

Two weeks is simply a long time without any competition....or without any fans sitting in the stands, paying out $$$.

BTW-the All-star break in baseball is a whopping three days............

 

they get 3 months + in the summer to rest,

and teams in div1-3 they play 46 games in a season, not including cups etc, that means they will probably play more games in a season that even the top teams playing in europe, now they dont have all these top facilities and top nutritional and exercise people to help them train the players etc to make sure they dont get fatigue, and they dont moan.


I blame the french

 

Erm, the season ends midway through May (the very end of May for FA/CL Cup finalists) and restarts in mid-August, true... but they begin the preseason a good month (maybe more) before that, making it a maximum of two months... then for international players on good teams (England, France, The Republic of "We Don't Need You Roy", etc) don't get off until late June every two years (WC, European Cup), making their break only two or three short weeks, depending on how well their natuion does.

 

I didn't do a very good job of explaining my point, but the all-star break comparison was more of an attempt to describe how this break could a psychological boost to teams. Many baseball players and/or clubs view post-all star break as a sort of "new beginning" or a chance to stop a particular bad streak.