Tottenham Hotspurs manager Mauricio Pochettino believes having midweek Europa League games is having an adverse effect on their weekend form in the Premier League.
When the European fixtures come round, the Londoners play on a Thursday and then have to play again on Sunday. It’s even more of an issue for away games given the anti-social hours they are often travelling to and from different countries, which leads to the side having little time to recover for their Sunday game.
Spurs face Partizan Belgrade tonight, and will be forced to go into training the day after a game, with Friday and Saturday the only days they have for preparation for their Sunday clash against Everton.
“Yes, maybe it is a good idea to play Monday if you play Thursday. Why not? One day more is good for the players to recover. One day extra is very good for the players to recover because maybe you play in Turkey, Serbia or Greece and you arrive 4am. It changes your sleep and after it is Friday, you need to train, then Saturday, then Sunday you play at one o’clock. It is very difficult for the players, said Pochettino.
Last season, Tottenham could not perform in the Premier League after playing in the Europa League in midweek. After qualifying, the Londoners played a total of 10 games in the competition, but lost five and drew one in six of the games played after a European clash. This season, Spurs have played four games in Europe, and have lost three of the four games played after a group game already.
It’s not a new argument about the Europa League, and while many point to sides in Europe needing big enough squads, constant tinkering of players and formations will also lead to inconsistent results. Being in European competition shouldn’t be viewed as a punishment, but for sides having small squads, it’s a real headache as to how they will go about coping with the fixture pile up.
The Europa League doesn’t have the best reputation due to the larger amount of sides in the competition, let alone the pitfalls of playing Thursday/Sunday in each game week. Tottenham have continued to struggle with performing after a European clash, and Pochettino certainly has a point when arguing his case for an extra day‘s rest. A lot of managers will rest key players in the competition as a result of having an eye on domestic duties, which degrades the Europa League even further, so should they change the fixtures from Sunday to Monday after a European clash on Thursday?
