Morning.
Let’s begin today with fixture news, and because of our Carabao Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace scheduled for Tuesday December 23rd, our Premier League game with Everton has been moved from Sunday 21st at 2pm, to Saturday 20th at 8pm.
Arsenal said in a statement:
Playing two matches within a 48-hour period contravenes FIFA recommendations, which have established a consensus for a minimum of 72 hours’ rest between games. This recommendation is in place to protect player health and fitness. Recovery time between matches is especially important during busy periods of the season, such as December.
Which makes sense on paper, but Palace’s game with Leeds has also been moved to Saturday at 8pm, but that means it comes just 48 hours after their Europa Conference League game against KuPS, taking place on Thursday December 18th at 8pm. To be clear, they also requested the change, but it leaves them in contravention of this FIFA guideline (for whatever that means). I know there’s little room in the schedule, and this was basically the only solution after a Christmas Eve cup game was ruled out, but it doesn’t seem fair on Palace when it comes to their Premier League game.
As I’ve said previously, there are questions that should be raised and dealt with properly by this situation. Winning games in a cup competition shouldn’t come at such a price, for either side. You could ask if English football really needs two cup competitions. I’ve also seen it suggested that teams who qualify for Europe shouldn’t play in the EFL Cup, which is probably sensible, but it’s a move which would diminish it further in the eyes of sponsors, advertisers and broadcasters who – as we know – are more important than players or fans.
I think that would be something worth exploring, as it would provide a possible pathway to Europe for teams who might not have any chance of getting there otherwise, but again that seems too much like a decision made on a sporting level than a financial one. Nobody still has a clue what a Carabao is or where you can even get it, but the list of winners in this tournament means they’ve probably had a decent return on their sponsorship investment because of the profile of the finals down the years.
Newcastle won it last year, but in the previous decade or so it’s been Man City six times, Liverpool and Man United twice, and then Chelsea once. In 2013, Swansea beat Bradford 5-0 in the final, but I have got no recollection of that or how it happened. It feels like a glitch in the matrix, the universe providing a pub quiz question that nobody bar fans of those two sides would ever get right.
Ultimately this is a competition that some fans of big clubs look down their noses at as they compete for the Premier League and the Champions League, but then celebrate wildly when they win it. And rightly so. You should celebrate a cup final win, but maybe there’s a way to reshape this competition so it gives that chance to clubs who, ordinarily, wouldn’t make it that far.
If there is any seriousness about player welfare, then it makes sense on that level too. Even with the big squads built by big money, a two-legged semi-final in early spring when the European knock-outs begin, and we’ve come through the hectic festive Premier League schedule and with the FA Cup now also running, can be a stretch. Frankly though, I think there’s zero interest in what’s best for players from those who run the game, because if there was, there wouldn’t already be as much football as there is.
Mikel Arteta also spoke about taking the fans into consideration when decisions like this are made, and while I realise these things are above his pay-grade and his job is to ensure his team has the best chance of winning a tricky Premier League fixture, the upshot of it all is Arsenal now play away from home at 8pm on a Saturday night when the last train back to London from Liverpool is long gone before the final whistle. You can also be sure that plenty of Everton fans will have been impacted too, from ‘local’ level to those – who like Arsenal fans who come to our home games – travel from all over the world. Similarly fans of Leeds and Palace.
Many Arsenal fans would have already forked out for train tickets for the Sunday game, which was already rescheduled for TV coverage, and now have to either eat that cost, or pay out again for another train up and potentially overnight accommodation given the new time. I know Arsenal are offering £10 coach travel, which is about as much as they can realistically do, but let’s not pretend the fans were a serious consideration when this decision was made. The reason it’s an 8pm is because there’s a broadcast slot. Both our game, and Palace’s trip to Leeds, (where I imagine their fans might face some similar travel challenges because of the time), could have taken place at 3pm, but Sky call the shots.
Andrew Allen also made an interesting point to me about how this potentially changes the atmosphere, from a fairly staid 2pm lunch-time kick-off which can often be quite muted, to 8pm on a Saturday night when those going will have had time for a few pints, shall we say. A small thing perhaps, and it might well provide a great backdrop for the game, but there’s a reason Arteta always talks about what the fans can bring to our home fixtures, and it’s another thing to contend with against solid opposition.
Anyway, it is what it is, and there’s clarity at least, but I don’t hold out any hope that lessons might be learned from this. If we get a similar situation next season, it’ll all play out exactly the same way, and so it goes.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. Have a good one folks.
