Are we a big team or not? Arsenal have to travel 2,000 miles ahead of Man City clash, so what?
09/16/2024 04:00 PM
Arsenals congestion fixture traffic
Come next Sunday Arsenal would've played three games in seven days, a hectic fixture schedule to say the least.
Arsenal kicked-started their heavy run of games yesterday when they defeated arch rivals Spurs 1-0 in the North London Derby. On Thursday they will commence their Champions League campaign away to Atalanta in Italy over 800 miles away, before returning to N5 to travel a further 198 miles to the Etihad to face Premier League table toppers Manchester City.
In total the Gunners will end up travelling over 2,000 miles in a single week, this is surely not fair on the players and managerial staff and will certainly take a toll on their well being to a certain extent.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has previously complained on a couple of occasions about the already congested fixture schedule which has increased this season.
After Arsenal beat Spurs yesterday Arteta commented on this topic again after being quizzed on his sides tight run of games this week.
Arteta is certainly not complaining this time round and said with vigour; "it is what it is, we have to adapt to that, we're going to be a top team, a very challenging team that is up there."
UEFA hasn't helped with this topic recently by changing and extending the number of Champions League group stage games for the campaign. Since Arsenal became accustomed to the competition for 19 years under former manager Arsene Wenger, the Gunners have traditionally played six games in the group stage, but now it's been increased to eight.
Do Arsenal really need this?
Excluding the two extra European matches to Arsenal's season, by the end of it all they would've played at least 46 games, made up of 38 Premier League games, at least one FA Cup and League Cup match and six Champions League tossups.
On the other hand Manchester City, who Arsenal will be aiming to beat to pip them in the League on Sunday, face the same number of games in both Champions League and Premiership, having been handed an unfair advantage ahead of the title chasing clash.
City have been handed the luxury of playing three games in eight days with an extra day of rest in comparison to Arsenal without having to travel outside the realms of Manchester!
The run started on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Brentford, leading into Wednesday when they take on Inter Milan in the Champions League, four days before facing the North Londoner's next Sunday who would've played on Thursday night hundreds of miles away!
This is something which the Premier League and UEFA need to work on together to find a solution to which will benefit the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of players, managers and all those loyal diehard fans who go to every game of the season!
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
The post Are we a big team or not? Arsenal have to travel 2,000 miles ahead of Man City clash, so what? appeared first on Just Arsenal News.
