Arsenal vs Everton: Arsene Wenger rejects Louis van Gaal's call for winter break and says he'd 'cry' if festive fixtures were removed
Van Gaal believes the Premier League is suffering from playing too many fixtures through the winter but Wenger had admitted he is a fan of the festive period
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsene Wenger admitted this morning that he would “cry” if the Christmas fixtures were to be removed from the Premier League calendar.
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal said that the busy Christmas calendar was “evil”, but Wenger leaped to the defence of the traditional festive football binge, saying that it was so important to fans – not just in Britain but across the world – that tampering with it would be unimaginable.
Wenger has always been a progressive manager, who likes to carefully and scientifically balance his players’ workloads. On this issue, though, he is a hard-line traditionalist.
“I have a lot of respect for Louis van Gaal but I don’t agree with him on that,” Wenger said at his pre-match press conference this morning. “Maybe it’s because I’ve been in England for such a long time. I had his ideas when I arrived here but today I would cry if you changed that because it’s part of English tradition and English football.”
The argument is both romantic and economic. The Christmas fixtures – Arsenal play on 21, 26, 28 December and 2 January – are part of the football furniture here, but they are also part of the global appeal of the Premier League.
“The whole of Europe comes to England to watch the game,” Wenger said. “It’s a very important part of us being popular in the world, that nobody works at Christmas and everybody watches the Premier League.”
The most important thing is they contribute goals
Of course, Wenger does want a break, but he would rather it followed the Christmas fixtures rather than replacing them. “I want to go on with [Christmas football] yes,” Wenger said. “I always pleaded for a break after January 1, but we have to keep this tradition alive.”
Wenger said that he hoped Aaron Ramsey would return from his hamstring injury after the next international break, targeting the trip to West Bromwich Albion on 21 November. That would mean it was a one-month lay-off for the Wales midfielder.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments