Arsene Wenger fears poor break for players this summer

Saturday 11 April 2015 07:49, UK

Arsene Wenger says that clubs could face a "nightmare" in trying to give players a proper break this summer.

The Arsenal manager believes players will have difficulty in properly recuperating no matter whether clubs plan to jet off on a lucrative post-season or pre-season tour.

Because of the need to prepare for the upcoming European Championships in France next summer, the 2015/2016 Premier League campaign will begin on August 8.

With the FA Cup final on May 30 - which could feature Arsenal again should they get past Reading next weekend - swiftly followed by another round of internationals, the actual down time for most players this summer will be minimal before they are called back to their club for the start of pre-season training.

Wenger would prefer to have seen extra fixtures worked into the domestic schedule for 2015-16, rather than just simply start and finish the campaign early.

He said: "Pre-season is always difficult if you cannot prepare well.

"They (clubs) voted to start early in August next season, which is a bit of nightmare when you think you start on August 8, some players play on June 21 in South America, some in Europe play on June 14, so after a season where we have no winter break, I don't see where you go from there to give players a proper rest. It is impossible.

"I opposed the early start because I preferred to play one more game over Christmas, because everybody has the squad that can deal with it and give the players a real rest in the summer. You have had no rest in the winter, now the decision is no rest in summer either."

Tottenham will travel to Malaysia and then Australia for a two-match tour after their final league fixture on May 24, while Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho confirmed the club are considering a post-season overseas 'victory trip' should they win the title, with Japan one reported potential destination.

Overseas fanbase

Arsenal themselves are set to join Stoke and Everton at the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore from July 15 to 18, before hosting the Emirates Cup ahead of the new Premier League campaign.

While Wenger accepts that the top clubs must make the most of such marketing opportunities and reach out to their vast overseas fanbase, he believes they can sometimes be disruptive from a football perspective.

"No, no, post-season tours I will never do. A post-season tour is a nightmare," said the Arsenal manager, who took his squad to the Far East following the conclusion of their 1998/1999 campaign.

"In pre-season you have the players under pressure with the focus of starting the season well. A post-season tour, I always feel people come along to watch, but the players are half on their holidays. It is a relaxed atmosphere with none of the intensity of a pre-season game.

"Maybe it is a holiday tour and good to have a relaxed atmosphere together, but from a purely football point of view, there is not much meaning, let's be honest."

Arsenal, who traditionally used to head off on a low-key training camp in Austria, had also looked into accommodating a pre-season trip to India, which is another vast market for additional revenue.

Wenger understands such trips are now a necessity to help grow a club's global brand, saying: "It is difficult, but you want as well to find a compromise. We cannot ignore any more the worldwide reputation and I would say it is more PR than finances."

Wenger hopes the squad's final preparations for next season will not see the need for another Champions League qualifier.

Arsenal head to Burnley on Saturday sitting in second place and in search of an eighth straight Premier League victory.

"In recent years I was always worried that we had a qualifier for the Champions League, so let's first make sure that we don't need that, and then we will see," he said. "It is interesting that we have only one week to dedicate to that (pre-season trip to Singapore)."