Liverpool FC Forum

by **JBG** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:22 pm

Michel Platini has resurrected the age old debate concerning the lack of a winter break in English football.

Platini has said that he received offers from Arsenal and Spurs in the early 1980s to play for them, and while his wife was keen on a move to London, Platini dismissed the idea as he felt that the lack of a winter break made the season too long and ardurous, and that he believed that players in England were burned out by March.

Sven Goran Erickson has also called for a winter break, claiming that it would greatly help his English national team.

It is long known that football fans in England like to stick to the traditional Christmas holiday football season, which sees a lot of football being played between the week before Christmas and New Years day, leading up to the FA Cup third round. Many love wrapping up in coat and scarf and trecking off to a Boxing Day match, or alternatively tucking into some more Christmiss pud and sherry and watch some quality Premiership action on the box.

Its clear then that there is too much of an interest in festive football for a winter break to be held mid winter, and any attempt to introduce a break then would be met with widespread and hostile opposition.

However, its becoming increasingly clear that something needs to be done. We all rave about how great the Premiership is, the richest league in the world with the longest traditions (albeit extending back to its old Football League roots). Each year we have seen the increasing competitiveness of English clubs in the group stages of the Champions League, and more often that not English sides now navigate through the opening stages into the knock out stages. By way of contrast, Spain lost Deportivo and Valencia in the group stages this year.

Prior to Christmas English sides can look very impressive, and English clubs have been known to hammer fancied foreign opposition at home in the darkening evenings of November.

After their early exploits the Champions League goes into hibernation for a few months and the English sides return to domestic competition: fighting it out in the Premiership and also having to contend with FA Cup (and in the case of Chelsea, Man UTD and Liverpool this season) sometimes also in the later stages of the League Cup. Meanwhile, as English sides are bombarded by Third Division teams on potato patch pitches in away Third Round FA Cup games, Spanish, Italian and German sides are holidaying in the Maldives.

The Champions League returns to action in March, and the joining of battle once more sees Arsenal (hyped at the end of last season by many as being the best side in Europe) and Man UTD meekly surrendering to continental opposition.

Liverpool and Chelsea overcame weary legs and battered bones to progress, but surely its a big ask for them to find the reserves to prolong their campaign on European soil all the way to Istanbul? Chelsea's quality and ability to win Europe's biggest prize is undoubted, Liverpool's maybe lesser so, but surely lesser now than had Rafa Benitez had Xabi Alonso, Djibril Ciise, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Neil Mellor, Harry Kewell and Josemi at his command?

Meanwhile Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are both reflecting on another disapointing campaign of failure.

The sad fact is that prior to 1985, English clubs had an almost total monolpoly in Europe for nigh on a decade. In that period Liverpool won the European Cup 4 times, Nottingham Forest twice. Even Aston Villa got in on the act and brought that trophy home to Birminham in 1982. The other giants of Europe - Juventus, Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Munich, Madrid and Ajax had to stand aside and watch English clubs dominate.

Since their return to continental competition in 1991, English clubs have only the Champions League once. Three sides have won the Cup Winners Cup and Liverpool claimed the UEFA Cup, but the big prize has only been claimed once, and that was by Ferguson's brilliant Man UTD side of 1999.

What has happened? As much as we hate them, UTD had a damn good side in the 1990s. They came close to winning the competition in 1997, should have done better in 1998 before finally doing it in 1999. Since then they have falttered to decieve, going out to a middling Real Madrid side in 2000. UTD had the pedigree to win 2 or 3 European Cups under Ferguson, but since 1999 they have failed to answer the real questions when asked, and there's now a real possibilty that they'll never win that competition again under Ferguson.

What of Arsenal? In 1998 they amazed and awed everyone with their brilliant and fluid football, yet bowed out early in Europe the following year. They won the double in 2002 and went unbeaten in the league last year, yet have never looked like winning the Champions League.

There are many reasons behind this (tactical naivety at the very highest level and a certain over valuing of many Premiership players) but the main reason, I believe, is not a lack of quality but rather a lack of freshness. By the time March comes around Premiership players are either knackered, injured, or are returning from injury. Players get tired and run out of ideas. It may not be seen in midfielders pulling up after 80 minutes with cramp, but it is hidden, instead found Roy Carroll or Jerzy Dudek's blunders, or a mix up in the Arsenal defence to let in a Bayern Munich forward. The evidence is found in missing an easy chance in front of goal or allowing Hernan Crespo to ghost in behind you and meet a deep cross with his head.

Premiership players patently need a break to become competitive in Europe. The quality is there: after all, this is the league that has Henry, Viera, Gerrard, Scholes, Robben and Rooney, but this league is too tough for its stars. Crespo has resurrected his career with Milan and is performing at the very highest level in Europe, but found the Premiership far too fast and tough for his liking. Mateja Kezman broke all sorts of goalscoring records in Holland but you can count his season's tally at Chelsea - the best team in the country this year - on one hand. Juan Sebastian Veron was a national hero in Italy but resembled more of a village idiot in England. The Premiership is a tough, hard league where only the strong survive, but perversely its ruining its members' chances in Europe.

Clubs that get eliminated early from the FA Cup are already beginning to send its players on Mediterannean holidays to recharge their batteries.

We need a break, and we don't need to drop festive football or reduce the size of the Premiership to achieve it. A two week break in the middle of January is all that is needed. OK, that causes a problem in that it will eventually lead to some fixture congestion at the end of the season, and there is no easy answer to how to solve that. We could eliminate FA Cup replays, and have all FA Cup ties decied over 120 minutes. We could look at a reduction in international friendlies. Maybe its time to bin the league cup.

Who knows?

What is for certain, though, is that a break is required. Imported players and managers find it incredulous the amount of punishment the English game deals out to its players and continues to expect, nay demand, those players to deliver. People against a break might argue that players are over paid and real people work longer hours and have far worse problems to deal with. That may be true, but real people aren't expected to go out and beat Barcelona after work. Others might say that English football was always this way and indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s was even more punishing, as footballers had to deal with 42 league matches a season, back in the days when most clubs only had 14 or 15 senior players in their squads, and still go out and win European cups. Yes, the achievements of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest back in the 1970s and 1980s were wonderous, particularly in this context, but football has moved on. What was good for the goose of the 1970s is not necessarily good for the gander of the 2000s.

At the end of it all 1 European Cup/Champions League in 15 years of competition (and lately with 4 English clubs allowed have a crack at it) is simply not good enough, and it is time the Premiership addressed the problem. Most now agree that the Champions League is where football really is at, and if you're not at that party, you're a nobody. But what is the point in participating, in turning up and collecting the tv cash, only to get elimiated by Porto or a Bundesliga side every year?

Its time English football restored its traditions and started to bring home European trophies again on a regular basis. Yet, to rekindle this glorious lost tradition, it must break with one of its oldest tradition: that is, insisting on its players going out in the freezing gales of January and playing caveman football on fields that would have driven Siegfrid Sassoon to the nut house.

by **taff** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:08 pm

Massive post and well presented and thought out

I agree ith a winter break bt you would have to have the balance and guarantee that it wouldnt be the start of a breakaway by the premier teams and would need compromise and careful planning

With the English National Team getting selected more from the top four, what would the advantage be for teams not in the champions league race and who dont supply players to England. Maybe it could be that the League Cup omits the premiership teams.

There would probably be a call for fewer friendlies as well with midweek games piling up either side of the break

Easter would probably take over as the new xmas then as well which could create some real excitement with the league coming to an end but who's to guarantee that TV demands wuldnt look to pair up the big boys over that weekend and the start of a seeding system

If the FA balance both ends of the league spectrum it culd be a geat move or could easily further widen the have and havenot gap that currently exists

by **jonnymac1979** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:02 pm

JBG

I would actually say I'm in favour of keeping the Xmas period fixtures, purely because (and you stated this in your article) it's great to go to the boozer or the ground over the period and watch some footy. It's a major part of my Boxing Day and New Years Day routine and always has been, although the points you raised about a break late January I couldn't argue with.

If every other country does it, why can't we incorporate it? Needs to be looked at.

by **JBG** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:05 pm

The Premiership can still keep the festive football, and I think the opponents of the winter break have disengenously linked the winter break with getting rid of festive footie.

We all love Christmas football and no one wants to give it up.

But it doesn't have to be given up. The players can still get through the Christmas season and then take a two week break after the FA Cup 3rd round.

by **stmichael** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:14 pm

i think the arsenal-bayern match the other night highlighted the advantages of a winter break. arsenal looked absolutely knackered for much of the game (even henry was struggling despite his goal). the germans seemed to have a couple of extra gears.

all in all, english teams have always struggled in europe because the number of games in this country is just so great. i wouldn't be surprised to see the number of teams in the premiership cut from twenty in the future.

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