| Re: Break with tradition?
No, I don't want a Christmas break. I don't agree with four games in 10 days or anything crazy, but Christmas is a time when families love to get out and see the traditional fixtures (Boxing Day and New Years Day), so I certainly don't want to lose that.
No, I am not for an 18 club Premier league, but I am for a complete scratching of the League Cup. It's irrelevant, even clubs halfway up the Championship field scratch sides half the time since "the league is more important". The League Cup final is coming up, but nobody outside the two clubs concerned cares a jot. It's irrelevant (I even had to think to remind myself who was in it).
Yes, I am for a winter break. Not because of the weather, in England we can't tell if the snow is coming from November to February, so that isn't the factor. I would have the break following the traditional FA Cup Third Round in the first week of January.
I would however absolutely insist on the following for our Winter Break - no teams are then allowed to scooch off to Dubai (or wherever) and use it to play a couple of money spinning "friendlies".
If the clubs want to take their players off for warm weather training anyway, then that's fine. That's the point of the break. But no matches during the break. Maybe the English players in this break (if there are any left in the Prem) could use this time to, you know, learn to kick with their "other" foot, or maybe even learn to take a penalty correctly!!
On another sidepoint, I would change all England international friendlies to "B" status. These games bore the ass off me, and no player should be boosting his international caps by appearing in them. Give them B status, use them as experimental games (which they should be) and as a B game, there is no longer any pressure on management to pick Lampard, Gerrard or any of the other top players....hell it's a B game, they don't play in those!! And maybe we may learn something in them. Then even if we lose, hell it was a B game, it wasn't a full international and doesn't go on the full teams stats. |