Your voices on those EPL X'mas fixtures
-
I thought it's ridiculous to play 4 games in 8 days .
Don't get me wrong , I like watching football on TV .
The question is , why can't the games be separated into different " instalments " , rather than squeezing those fixtures into that crazy 8 days .
Spain doesn't do that ! Serie A doesn't do that ! Most countries do have a Winter break , why must EPL do that all the time at X'mas ? -
the FA want them all to die
while other leagues have a christmas break, the EPL players are broken by their fixture lists -
Manager Graeme Souness fears Newcastle could be left with an injury crisis after playing their next four Premiership games in the space of eight days.
Souness has had to deal with a depressing injury list all season and fears the toll on his players over the festive period could leave him back at square one, claiming those who arranged the games 'do not understand football'.
His side travel to Liverpool on Boxing Day before facing Charlton, Tottenham and Middlesbrough by January 2.
'We have got a very hard programme, as everyone has,' said Souness. 'Whoever makes the decisions to play the games as close together as they are obviously does not understand football.
'After the first game, you are risking everything.
'Muscle injuries occur when muscles are tired, so you are going into the second on a wing and a prayer and then you get beyond the second one, you are in the hands of the gods with injuries because we will, like everybody else, suffer injuries over this period.
'Who decides to play these games? If this is the best they could come up with, I suggest they go into another job, because this is not conducive to good football being played or the well-being of the players.
'People pay good money to watch football, they buy season tickets, they buy hospitality - whatever the ticket costs, it's a fortune to them - and they are not seeing their players perform to their best levels because too much is being asked of them.
'They will be trying to say it's the way Christmas has fallen or New Year has fallen, but there must be something better than all these games all at once.'
Souness, who has previously complained about the number of international friendly games for which he is required to release players, is finally starting to see good news on the injury front.
The Scot has been able to name five of the men missing in recent weeks - Celestine Babayaro, Stephen Carr, Steven Taylor, Emre and Charles N'Zogbia - in his squad for the trip to Anfield.
Although with his side having won their last two games against Arsenal and West Ham, Souness may resist the temptation to rush too many of them back too soon.
With Scott Parker suspended after reaching five yellow cards, Emre could be pressed into service, while Babayaro could take over from Robbie Elliott at left-back.
Central defender Taylor has been training after an initial setback in his recovery from a dislocated shoulder, although further damage could mean surgery which will sideline him for up to 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, Souness moved to add his own dismissal to suggestions that £9.5million winger Albert Luque could be on his way out of Newcastle after just four months.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have reportedly expressed an interest in taking the former Deportivo La Coruna player back to his native Spain.
A torn hamstring has limited Luque to just four appearances this season, but following chairman Freddy Shepherd's insistence that he is going nowhere, Souness added his view.
He said: 'Someone has taken a flier on a story and as far as I'm concerned, it's a load of nonsense.' -
epl ends the earliest..maybe to let them concentrate more on ucl in the future..
-
Season end early so can prepare more for world cup mah
-
Ever since the Premieship took over from the old Div.One , their X'mas is always so busy , not a single X'mas we don't hear manager complaint about the fixtures .Originally posted by The man who was death:Season end early so can prepare more for world cup mah
Think its already 15 yrs liao .
I hate the X'mas fixtures , Liverpool ... from 1990 , always slump during this period . -
no leh,fifa states all leagues to end by 15th may this year..except for ucl final..Originally posted by The man who was death:Season end early so can prepare more for world cup mah -
4 games in 8 days is definitely a lot to ask from the players. I think apart from Chelsea, most clubs will struggle to put out fresh players by the time they play their 3rd game!
I think it's too much and they should revise the scheduling. Why not start the league earlier by a week? or end it later by a week? or divide the 4 games into 2 parts, eg. 2 "2 games over 4 days" kind of fixtures?
As for Liverpool struggling over the festive season as mentioned by Poolman, I think they are going to find it very difficult this time round too. Newcastle, Everton, WBA, Bolton and Tottenham. LFC are going to be pushed to their limits. -
I posted under sports and no 1 seems to understand but chelsea will certainly have the upper hand
-
money is the reason.Originally posted by Poolman:I thought it's ridiculous to play 4 games in 8 days .
Don't get me wrong , I like watching football on TV .
The question is , why can't the games be separated into different " instalments " , rather than squeezing those fixtures into that crazy 8 days .
Spain doesn't do that ! Serie A doesn't do that ! Most countries do have a Winter break , why must EPL do that all the time at X'mas ? -
Originally posted by Poolman:Manager Graeme Souness fears Newcastle could be left with an injury crisis after playing their next four Premiership games in the space of eight days.
Souness has had to deal with a depressing injury list all season and fears the toll on his players over the festive period could leave him back at square one, claiming those who arranged the games 'do not understand football'.
His side travel to Liverpool on Boxing Day before facing Charlton, Tottenham and Middlesbrough by January 2.
'We have got a very hard programme, as everyone has,' said Souness. 'Whoever makes the decisions to play the games as close together as they are obviously does not understand football.
'After the first game, you are risking everything.
'Muscle injuries occur when muscles are tired, so you are going into the second on a wing and a prayer and then you get beyond the second one, you are in the hands of the gods with injuries because we will, like everybody else, suffer injuries over this period.
'Who decides to play these games? If this is the best they could come up with, I suggest they go into another job, because this is not conducive to good football being played or the well-being of the players.
'People pay good money to watch football, they buy season tickets, they buy hospitality - whatever the ticket costs, it's a fortune to them - and they are not seeing their players perform to their best levels because too much is being asked of them.
'They will be trying to say it's the way Christmas has fallen or New Year has fallen, but there must be something better than all these games all at once.'
Souness, who has previously complained about the number of international friendly games for which he is required to release players, is finally starting to see good news on the injury front.
The Scot has been able to name five of the men missing in recent weeks - Celestine Babayaro, Stephen Carr, Steven Taylor, Emre and Charles N'Zogbia - in his squad for the trip to Anfield.
Although with his side having won their last two games against Arsenal and West Ham, Souness may resist the temptation to rush too many of them back too soon.
With Scott Parker suspended after reaching five yellow cards, Emre could be pressed into service, while Babayaro could take over from Robbie Elliott at left-back.
Central defender Taylor has been training after an initial setback in his recovery from a dislocated shoulder, although further damage could mean surgery which will sideline him for up to 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, Souness moved to add his own dismissal to suggestions that £9.5million winger Albert Luque could be on his way out of Newcastle after just four months.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have reportedly expressed an interest in taking the former Deportivo La Coruna player back to his native Spain.
A torn hamstring has limited Luque to just four appearances this season, but following chairman Freddy Shepherd's insistence that he is going nowhere, Souness added his view.
He said: 'Someone has taken a flier on a story and as far as I'm concerned, it's a load of nonsense.'
Good good good.I cant wait to see Newcastle relegate. -
My take is:-
As prof'l , they've been paid to entertain....so why complain!? I personally like tis period coz it realli shows wat teams are made of
Juz kidding la....perhaps 3 games in 8 games will be juz nice -
You play football buddy ?Originally posted by Redz:My take is:-
As prof'l , they've been paid to entertain....so why complain!? I personally like tis period coz it realli shows wat teams are made of
Juz kidding la....perhaps 3 games in 8 games will be juz nice
It took me two-three days to go back to normal after just a simple 90 minutes friendly , it took me a week for my knee ligament to recover better after that match , if not , still quite painful after a match .
EPL high level out-put league , your suggested 3 games in 8 days also a bit shiong leh ! -
thts coz u dun train ur fitness regularly enough or u may not be training ur match fitness correctly... or maybe u are not as fit as footballersOriginally posted by Poolman:You play football buddy ?
It took me two-three days to go back to normal after just a simple 90 minutes friendly , it took me a week for my knee ligament to recover better after that match , if not , still quite painful after a match .
EPL high level out-put league , your suggested 3 games in 8 days also a bit shiong leh !