Arsenal boss rues fixture congestion but refuses to complain?

Arsene Wenger is supposedly not complaining about Arsenal’s congested week, but it sounds like he kind of is…

Our side has already played on Monday evening in the Premier League, and now looks forward to two more matches between now and Sunday.

Wenger should have already foreseen an unfavourable schedule thanks to playing in the second-rate European competition, but he does have a point considering it was unnecessary to make us play on the Monday really.

The Arsenal manager admits he now has to take considerations when selecting his side for the Europa League clash due to the build-up of matches.

“I have a decision to make [team selection for BATE] and at the moment I would say that the schedule for us is a bit cruel,” he stated.

“We play [on Monday], we play in BATE Borisov on Thursday night and play Sunday morning at 12 o’clock.”

He added: “There is no need to talk to the Premier League about [TV schedule] because it’s the television that decides.

“For example, [on Sunday] Brighton/Newcastle is on the television, they could have played [on Monday] and we could have played then. So for us the time is very short. But the television decides and I don’t complain about that.

“What I want to say is for the selection is has an impact for me for the first day and for the Sunday game. Because you have another home game and it is very important that we have a strong record at home.”

Was we to expect unfavourable fixtures due to our entry in the Europa League? Do we have enough squad strength to be able to rotate and still win both matches comfortably? Will the long trip to Bate Borisov cause us issues?

Pat J

Tags Arsenal Bate Borisov

3 Comments

  1. The trouble is, Wenger should complain and so should the club.These are situations that I’ve studied for a long time and its been going on for years. Fixtures are arranged by Sky Sports for television and from now on I’d like you all to check out their beloved Man Utd and how much their helped by Sky especially when they play midweek games. The majority of the time they’ll play Saturday 12-45 then midweek and then the following Sunday 4 o’clock giving them the maximum time to rest between games. Incidentally, it’s no secret they actually tried to buy the the club in the nineties, a move that was stopped by the FA

  2. A friend of mine who is a Chelsea fan told me something. He said Arsenal has the squad to win the europa league but lacks the consistency. A competition like the Europa league requires consistency. I just hope we can survive this season and win some trophies. To me wenger not taking the Europa league serious is stupid. He doesn’t have a European trophy in his career so why disregard it?

  3. United, Chelsea, and now City are all getting preferential treatment by the league officials, and by TV schedules. Wenger does complain a lot, and sometimes it’s not all warranted, but in this case he’s spot on. We should launch an official complaint. It probably won’t matter this season already, but it might help us in the future.

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