Manchester United join Liverpool in complaining about fixtures
Sir Alex Ferguson has backed Rafael Benitez’s complaints over the Premier League fixture scheduling and has claimed that clubs like Manchester United (and by extension, the other 3 big clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool) are being punished by their own success.
After the midweek Euro 2008 qualifiers Benitez lashed out at football authorities for giving clubs very little time to prepare for weekend games, making it easier for ‘normal’ teams to beat them and thus costing the top clubs a chance to extend their domination over the league.
Ferguson:
“I do think the successful teams are punished.
The top teams are always going to be televised at a time that suits the public demand. Sky and Setanta are always going to pick the successful teams for the prime-time games, you can’t blame them for that given the amount of money they have put it.
Money is important to every club now, so they do a deal. But once you shake hands with the devil, you have to accept they are in control.”
Saying that Manchester United and Liverpool are being ‘punished’ is going too far (your mileage may vary depending on your interpretation), but it’s true that something has to be done to lessen the burden of international fixtures on the domestic leagues as well as giving the national teams more time together as several managers have suggested (or complained about, is football managers are prone to doing).
It will take a concentrated effort from top managers – not just from Manchester United and Liverpool but other top clubs in Europe as well as national team managers – as well as a collaborative move from national footballing associations to lobby for a solution that benefits both club football and international football.
Of course, the context to this story is far more interesting – Rafa Benitez is on a crusade this season, building a siege mentality at Liverpool in order to bring them to perform consistently at the level required to win the Premier League. He’s taken on the FA and Manchester United already and there is a little whiff of paranoia about his actions – although to be fair it’s this spirit that has revolutionised Liverpool.
As for Manchester United? Ferguson’s always there to remind us that while the ‘new’ guys have ‘just’ discovered their problems, Manchester United have been under the cosh for a lot longer. Good ol Fergie, eh?
There have been proposals to give two month-long breaks during each season for leagues to play all their internationals – presumably that would also include qualifiers and friendlies.
What do you guys think? Is this a good idea / is it workable?
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Topics: English Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester United
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And, because it needs to be said:
Fergie whining about last season’s fixtures is just not on. A bit more class please.
September 15th, 2007 @ 13:36well fergies been complaining about the fixture congention since…for a very long time now..and he has a point most of the top tier teams are contesting in one or more extra competition compaired to the rest of league…
September 15th, 2007 @ 18:03I think Rafa has become more vocal about the fixtures because unlike previous seasons, his team has a good chance of pipping the other contenders to the league title.
Any injuries could derail that hope. Fact is, the more successful the club, the more affected they are from the international games.
September 15th, 2007 @ 18:39I think that Rafa and Fergie are right our teams do get punished by it it is just not fair, because we are to good we play in the more upper round than the other teams so we have to play on Tuesday’s or Wednesday’s so this is very sad that we have to get prepared by saterday or sunday’s games, and there is no chance that could happen with injuries that the teams will have so i say prpare the fixtures better ”Come on liverpool”
November 1st, 2007 @ 18:50nice to see that the clubs raking in the cash from the richest league in the world plus around millions and millions more are pleading how unfair things are. the reason they’re in the g14 is to fix european football so they get all the cash to create a monopoly of the money and a cartel of power for those teams.
i say, if they don’t like it go and start your own euro league and see how much money you bring in that way fellas. no one who doesn’t support those teams would pay/subscribe to watch so they’d lose a ton of money because they wouldn’t be in their domestic leagues and for the english ones especially this is what allow them their extravagance in wages and purchase fees.
we want everything and then we’re gonna whine about how hard we have it too. what fuc*ing joke these clubs are and no-one says anything about it and just lets it go on. for those who say an american style franchise system wouldn’t work in soccer i say to you we now have one. the top spots in euro champions-league are just that now and nobody can see it. the worst thing is it has ruined competition forever in the english league until something is done to make these clubs admit what they’ve done rather than say this sh*te to deflect from the truth.
football the not-so-beautiful game anymore.
November 2nd, 2007 @ 08:07This is a complete joke right? Boo Hoo we’ve got it so tough. These clubs rake it in from the most valuable league in the world and then take millions and millions more from the champions league too. They are involved in g14 to allow their monopoly/cartel to keep all the money in the game in their corner to sustain their priviaged place and exclude all others. Now they want to whine about how many games they have to play and when they are. Go and start your own euro super-league and see how much you earn from it i say. No one who doesn’t support them will subscribe and they’ll lose the money from the domestic league because they won’t be in it anymore. They’ve fixed the state of top european club football to suit their interests and have killed genuine longterm competition in the english league especially and then want sympathy. Yeah right, these clubs have a real respect for the game don’t they?
November 2nd, 2007 @ 08:15