As soon as snow causes the postponement of a match in England, the annual national debate begins over having a winter break.
Unless the timing of the season is eventually changed to accommodate a winter World Cup in Qatar in 2022, a winter break is unlikely ever to happen for the reason that English fans are passionate about the Christmas and New Year holiday programme.
While footballers in other countries get time off, England’s season goes into overdrive over Christmas and New Year, when attendances are traditionally higher than in the rest of the season.
Forty Premier League games are scheduled to be played on eight match days between Dec. 26 and Jan. 5, weather permitting.
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, whose team are due to play Blackpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers before an FA Cup third-round tie against Manchester United on January 9, implied he was not the greatest fan of the busy holiday period.
“You talk about a winter break, but five games in 15 days is a season-changing period for every club in the Premier League,” said Hodgson, who has worked extensively elsewhere in Europe and enjoyed winter breaks.
“You could ask why five games in 15 days is necessary when football could become a game that could go on all year round,” he said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Snow badly disrupted last weekend’s Premier League programme and continuing freezing weather could jeopardise some of the Christmas weekend matches. Blackpool’s home game against Liverpool could be under threat if the cold snap continues as the Bloomfield Road pitch has no undersoil heating.
Hodgson will be hoping the holiday period changes his club’s season for the better as they are languishing in ninth place in the table, and he is delighted to have skipper Steven Gerrard back, after a month out with a hamstring injury, for the Boxing Day game with Blackpool.
“It’s a big boost,” he said.
Arsenal will also be boosted by the return of former absentees as they look to continue their chase of Manchester United at the top of the table.
Arsenal, who kick off their programme against champions Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on December 27, cannot afford another setback against a major rival following their 1-0 defeat to United last week, but they no longer have their old invincibility at home, having lost three times in north London this season.
Manager Arsene Wenger said on Wednesday that most of his key absentees would be fit for the demanding period ahead.
Wenger, who was forced to give a debut to 20-year-old keeper Wojciech Szczesny for the visit to United, told Arsenal’s online television channel that most of the injured, such as Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, would be fit for Chelsea’s visit.
Defender Thomas Vermaelen, who has not played since August, faces another month out, however.
“They were all fit for last week’s postponed match with Stoke and they have had one more week to prepare for this game and build up their fitness,” Wenger said. “That will have helped them of course.”
Chelsea have the opportunity to put their recent bad spell behind them over the holidays as, after playing Arsenal, they face Bolton Wanderers at home, Aston Villa at home and struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
Manchester United, who have 34 points, head into Christmas as league leaders, unbeaten in 16 matches but unable to pull away from the chasing pack with nine wins and seven draws. They start their programme with a home match against Sunderland.
United lead Arsenal (17 matches) and Manchester City (18 matches) by two points, with champions Chelsea a further point behind.
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