Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has expressed his outrage over the potential fixture pile-up facing his team in December. The Austrian coach believes it would be "irresponsible" for Crystal Palace to play two games in 54 hours, citing player welfare as a major concern.
Glasner's comments come after Crystal Palace reached the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, setting up a crucial tie against Arsenal on December 16. This match will leave Palace with three fixtures in just five days, including a league game against Manchester City and a Conference League match against KuPS.
In an interview, Glasner stated that he couldn't believe the scheduling decision and questioned why it was not feasible to reschedule the games to avoid such congestion. He highlighted that FIFA and UEFA meetings have previously discussed mandatory 72-hour gaps between competitive matches, but this seems to be disregarded in the current situation.
Glasner proposed an alternative solution: moving the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal to December 24, potentially solving the fixture conundrum. However, he emphasized that a collective approach from the Premier League, EFL, UEFA, and FIFA is needed to address this issue.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) also weighed in on the matter, acknowledging that the calendar doesn't work for players but urging a collective solution. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta echoed Glasner's sentiments, stating it wouldn't be fair if the Carabao Cup quarter-final was rescheduled and that prioritizing player welfare is essential.
The debate surrounding fixture congestion has been ongoing in recent seasons, with Manchester City's Rodri citing potential strikes by players over increased schedules. As the football calendar continues to evolve, addressing these scheduling concerns remains a pressing issue for top clubs like Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
Glasner's comments come after Crystal Palace reached the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, setting up a crucial tie against Arsenal on December 16. This match will leave Palace with three fixtures in just five days, including a league game against Manchester City and a Conference League match against KuPS.
In an interview, Glasner stated that he couldn't believe the scheduling decision and questioned why it was not feasible to reschedule the games to avoid such congestion. He highlighted that FIFA and UEFA meetings have previously discussed mandatory 72-hour gaps between competitive matches, but this seems to be disregarded in the current situation.
Glasner proposed an alternative solution: moving the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal to December 24, potentially solving the fixture conundrum. However, he emphasized that a collective approach from the Premier League, EFL, UEFA, and FIFA is needed to address this issue.
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) also weighed in on the matter, acknowledging that the calendar doesn't work for players but urging a collective solution. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta echoed Glasner's sentiments, stating it wouldn't be fair if the Carabao Cup quarter-final was rescheduled and that prioritizing player welfare is essential.
The debate surrounding fixture congestion has been ongoing in recent seasons, with Manchester City's Rodri citing potential strikes by players over increased schedules. As the football calendar continues to evolve, addressing these scheduling concerns remains a pressing issue for top clubs like Crystal Palace and Arsenal.
. Like, what's next? Playing a match on Christmas Day? 
It's not just about player welfare, it's about sanity too. I mean, who thought 54 hours was a good amount of time to rest between games? That's like asking a person to go from 0 to 100 in 5 minutes without even getting a chance to breathe 
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. And what really gets me is that FIFA and UEFA meetings have talked about this stuff before but nobody seems to care until it affects them directly 
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. It's time for some common sense in football scheduling 
they're already pushing themselves so hard in an already packed schedule and now it's like they're gonna be asked to do even more on less rest? 54 hours is just crazy 
like, how are they even supposed to physically recover from that? And yeah I think rescheduling games is a no-brainer - can't we just plan ahead for once?! 
The thing is, as long as it's all about ratings and revenue, these scheduling issues will keep coming back. We need some serious collective effort here 
Can't we just reschedule these games already?! 
I'm Team Oliver all the way! 
What do you guys think? Should the Carabao Cup quarter-final be moved to Dec 24th?! 
Let's get behind our players and make sure they're treated fairly 
But at the same time, I can see why coaches like Glasner would be concerned about player welfare... I mean, 54 hours is a pretty long stretch, and it's not good for the players' bodies 
It feels like we're just stuck between a rock and a hard place, you know?
Is there some kind of loophole or something that's making this scheduling issue so hard to solve?