Why would we want a mid-season break in February?

Arsene Wenger always complained when Arsenal had to play 3 games a week over Christmas and the New Year, and he always campaigned for England to fall in line with other top European Leagues and give their players a break over the coldest but most congested time of the year. This is the time when you need to rotate and cover for the numerous injuries that inevitably occur when players are tested to their limits.

So I was pleased to see that the Fa had confirmed a Premier League winter break starting the season after next, but when I looked closer, they have decided to have it in February! And their idea of reducing the fixture congestion is to play the FA Cup 5th round in midweek, and to ban replays. That really will make a massive difference, don’t you think? NO! But the FA thinks it is a breakthrough… “This is a significant moment for English football and one that we believe will greatly benefit both club and country,” said Martin Glenn, chief executive of the FA.

“It’s no secret that we have a very congested fixture calendar and over recent years we have been working with the whole game to find a solution.

“Today’s announcement proves that football can come together for the good of the game. We have also found a way to give the players a much needed mid-season break, whilst keeping the much-loved Christmas schedule in place.

“As we head into summer international tournaments in the future we are sure that this mid-season break will prove to be a valuable addition for our players.”

But this is only going to be for the Premier League with the other three divisions having to continue without a break as they do have a few more games than the top tier. But again, by February all the players in every League, including the Premiership, are usually exhausted. If they are really serious about making things better for our international team, surely they would be better off reducing the amount of teams in each division to reduce the fixture congestion. Then we could have a proper winter break, like Germany….

Is a February break better than nothing?

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27 Comments

  1. The CL teams will be happy, I don’t think Arsenal fans will be as happy until we make it back. Just our luck, we could’ve done with it in the past. Same sort of luck we got with Europa change last season.

    1. Rumours going round that we’ve agreed to pay Lucas Torreiras release clause.

      Please please please let this happen

    2. Off topic here but the Sokratis signing has started to grow on me. Like everybody else when I first heard about this I was like the deal doesn’t make any sense. Then I realized something – we don’t have any real leaders in Defence. Koulibaly isn’t a leader at Napoli and Manolas isn’t a captain for Roma or Greece – Sokratis is. Koulibaly and Manolas are commanding CBs and are better options in terms of defensive ability but they cannot organize a defence – Sokratis can. What I suspect was in Mslintat’s profile is a commanding CB who is also a leader and can organize the backline. Since he was already familiar with Sokratis he sounded him out and the rest is history. I am not saying it has to work out but for some reason, I suspect Sokratis will change our minds once he dons the red and white. I also forgot to mention that he would be a mentor to Mavropanos and Caylar and the other young CBs.

  2. No difference here. Most PL teams already have 2 week breaks when they’re knocked out of the FA Cup early. Remember us this past season when we had a 2 week gap between the CSKA Moscow games because there was an FA Cup weekend and an international break or something.

  3. The break should be over a prolonged Xmas and New Year. Read what is said by those players who have experienced such a break versus no break. They all say it makes a big difference to their season’s performance.,

  4. Would have been very welcome in the Wenger era as we could delay our annual CL thrashing but no longer needed.

  5. February seemed an odd time to me too but it is generally when we get our yearly fall of snow. I’m not advocating a break at Christmas, always loved going to the Boxing Day fixtures back in the day, but would have thought early January a better time. I see its also not a complete break but staggered over two weeks with 5 games the first weekend and 5 games the following weekend, all very odd.

  6. Load of balls! Should be after new years day fixtures, so the players can rest & enjoy whatever is left of the holidays. Simple!

  7. It should be around Christmas or early January.

    February seems a bit too late which defeats the purpose. Should be half way throuh the season to give rest to players so that they can perform at their best in second half of season and give injured time to recover.

  8. I think its ridiculous. The conversation around winter breaks cane about as a result of the congested December period where even the best teams with depth start to struggle and sometimes lose fixtures they ordinarily would win. I would say have it then or none at all. This Feb period really isnt the best. Remember Guardiola saying there is a time when players shouldnt lose momentum. And for a lot of team(not all) their season is determined largely by these holidays and early January fixtures, not Feb.

  9. I thin it was designed precisely with Arsenal in mind.
    What better way to detract from another disastrous campaign than to have a break.
    Liverpool sign Fabiano, Keita and look to be signing Fekir.
    And we sign Lichsteiner.
    I simply cannot wait for the new season…
    Exciting times ahead….

  10. If you want a mid -season break, which I do not, it is worth noting that the actual midseason is after 19 Prem games are played. This is usually just after Boxing Day. If a proper team with a proper manager has rotated properly , a break should be unnecessary. It would be more sensible to individually give different players a fortnight off, away from the club. as they need it. Mass closedowns is a silly idea but a break for individuals is still possible with some thought and organisation. Now we have the professionals running our club , at long last, this thought and organisation might , and probably will, return.

  11. If the powers that run the game had thought about this then surely the break should be immediately after the Xmas and new year fixtures.We all love these games so they should NEVER be changed.Play the FA Cup 3rd round and THEN have the break.Surely that makes more sense.As JF says it is halfway(ish) through the fixtures and although it may interfere with the Carabao Cup it allows the players the rest after the busy schedule and before the Euro competitions the-start.It makes sense to me but what do we supporters know.

    1. I know your final line was said ironically but i will answer it as though it were a serious question, as I want to make this point: Countless thousands of us Gooners and virtually the whole football world too, knew far more than the previous manager that our team was unmotivated, pamperewd by thr manager , has no effective defence and virtuallu no effective defenders of real quality, including the keepers. We fans knew this with our hearts and souls, as we have the gift of sight and reason. Therefore, the manager whom we succeeded in getting sacked either knew LESS than us OR simply didn’t care, which meant he was conning us(or rather trying to). Either way, he had to go! Speaking only for myself, I see enormous changes for the better happening already. It is clear that those now in charge are now determined to totally change the pampered and excuse ridden way the club was (mis) run. Quite irrespective of where we finish in the league this coming season, I am still , daily , feeling sheer elation that Wenger and his ineptness or his conning(they both have the same dismal results , whichever anyone believes was the true cause) are history. Hurray!!!

      1. JF-I have tried desperately to forget Wenger.I blame him and him alone for the complete and utter shambles he has left the Club in and I refuse to accept any argument to the contrary.
        I was however encouraged by Ivan Gazidis openly critisising Wenger with his “Catylist for Change” headline comment last year that would have rocked Wenger to the core.For the first time ever in his reign at the Club Wenger was being openly warned that results and performances were not of the standard required.Never before had his Management been questioned and it obviously angered him to the point that he was warning how he refused to accept a DOF as an option while he was still Manager and would never relinquish having total control over transfer policies.
        The result was that his following season was worst than the previous and ultimately he was sacked for his total mis-management.The Club had no choice.Wenger could have no argument.
        So the Club moves forward with a new back room team of highly experienced and credible professionals supporting a Manager that is predominately a Coach.With the new signings and more to come there is no doubt a positive optimism that has been missing for years is beginning to surface.The question will still remain though.Why did this not happen a DECADE ago?

  12. I hate being without my beloved Arsenal… hate the international breaks ☹ so now I’m going to have to deal with a mid season break ?

  13. Is the source of Lucas Torreira rumours reliable.We desperately need a top DM.

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