- Wayne Rooney has criticised the Premier League's festive schedule
- Premier League players play twice in 48 hours from Boxing Day
- Rooney claims it will 'take a bad injury' before any changes are made
- Louis van Gaal has been among most vocal critics of festive schedule
Wayne
Rooney believes it will take a serious injury before the Premier League
bow to demands to overhaul the traditional festive schedule.
In
joining the clamour criticising the fixture congestion, the Manchester
United captain also claimed supporters are being short-changed by
attending matches between exhausted teams.
United
boss has Louis van Gaal has been among the most vocal critics of the
Christmas fixtures, which saw sides play twice in 48 hours from Boxing
Day.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has blasted the Premier League's hectic festive schedule
Rooney (right) and Radamel Falcao
(left) look on during the match with Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday - just
two days after Boxing Day fixtures, which the former believes will only
change once a serious injury is suffered
‘It
will probably take someone getting a really bad injury from doing it
(playing twice in two days), which no-one wants to see,’ Rooney said.
‘But it is very demanding and I think it does need looking at.
‘As a player you want to play. It is tough, but you want to play and try to help the team win.
Juan Mata was the only United player whose running stats dipped significantly over the two games
Radamel Falcao failed to score, and did not impress in the match at White Hart Lane on Sunday
‘If you look at all the games (on December 28), towards the end they will all lose a lot of quality.’
Rooney
added: ‘With the weather as well, and the fans coming from London or
travelling from Manchester, it has been tough. It is a lot of money to
spend over Christmas.
‘But it is what it is, we have to deal with that and have to try and perform well.’
United
blew a good chance to make up ground on league leaders Chelsea on
Sunday, but after dominating the first half they wilted badly in the
second.
Phil Jones (on floor) looks on as his header goes over the line but the goal was disallowed for offside
Manchester United failed to score, even when the ball scrambled around the Tottenham box in the first half
Van
Gaal directly attributed the drop-off to fatigue and Rooney said: ‘It
is not easy playing two games in two days and you do lose a lot of the
quality from both teams.
‘We
started so well first half but in the second half it was tough and
hopefully in the future it has to change because it is tough.’
A
change could be forced if 14 of the 20 top-flight clubs pushed for it,
though such gripes have not escalated to that level of discussion in the
past.
Louis van Gaal has bemoaned the Christmas fixtures, and says that 48 hours is not enough time to recover
While
Rooney made his unhappiness public, team-mate Phil Jones says that
fatigue is just an annual by-product of the festive fixtures and refused
to use it as an excuse.
‘You
have to do it,’ Jones told MUTV. ‘I think fatigue is always going to
kick in with two games in three days but it’s the same for every club in
the Premier League.’
United
will be boosted by the return to the fitness of Ander Herrera for their
New Year’s Day trip to Stoke as the £30million midfielder recovers from
a muscle injury.
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