Louis Van Gaal And Arsene Wenger Are At Opposite Ends Of The Emotional Spectrum When It Comes To The Premier League’s Christmas Schedule

Chris Wright

23rd, October 2015

3 Comments

wenger-van-gaal-christmas

It’s that time of year again, when Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat and the same tedious annual debate about the Premier League’s winter break or lack thereof farts back into life.

Having managed exclusively in leagues that observe the practice of footballing hibernation before arriving at Manchester United, Louis van Gaal has been very outspoken of late about the Premier League’s festive schedule.

Safe to say, the Dutchman isn’t a fan:

I think that is the most evil thing of this culture. It is not good for English football,

It is not good for the clubs or the national team.

England haven’t won anything for how many years? Because all the players are exhausted at the end of the season.

No, inferior players. That’s the reason.

Anyway, when pressed about the same subject, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger positioned himself at the absolute other end of the emotional spectrum.

Indeed, Wenger, a 66-year-old adult male, admitted to a room full of journalists that he would probably burst into tears if his traditional Christmas football was taken away from him:

I have a lot of respect for Louis van Gaal but I don’t agree with him on that.

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.

To suppress the game on Boxing Day, the whole of Europe comes to England to watch the game.

It’s a very important part of us being popular in the world, that nobody works at Christmas and everybody watches the Premier League.

Woah! There’s no middle ground at all there, gents. It’s either the work of Beelzebub or sweet, silent tears of Gallic pain. Nothing in-between.

As for us, if more football on telly means less time spent having to force conversation with extended family members, then let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Posted in Arsenal, Man Utd, Managers, Newsnow

Share this article: Email

3 Comments

  1. no_oaps_in_football says:

    (a) plenty of people work over xmas, most maybe just get that one day off and are back in boxing day – althought not all of us have been paid about £80m in wages over the last decade to deliver minimum standards. (b) the xmas schedule is fun, so why not have a 7-10 day in the first week or two of January? other countries can do it, just have the season finish around end of may instead of mid may. simples.

  2. jackie wilshere says:

    i think no oaps has it… have a 7-10 day break starting after new years, easy. i dont buy the whole ‘epl fixture congestion means england dont win’. players from all over the world play in england yet manage to win international honours. the epl fixture congestion leads to english clubs’ poor performance in europe in the spring, but not the england national team!

  3. Bruno says:

    I agree with Wenger, it’s part of the culture. Van Gaal has a point but this is the Premier League. That is why is so good to watch, it’s different.

Leave a Reply to no_oaps_in_football