England manager Roy Hodgson in plea for TV scheduling help
Last updated on .From the section Football
England boss Roy Hodgson wants television companies to stop asking Premier League's top teams to play on the Sunday before an international.
Because affected players need time to recover, Hodgson thinks such scheduling limits his amount of preparation time.
Hodgson also called for a winter break, saying it would give the English season a more "logical" schedule.
"It would be lovely to think that one day we could all get together and say 'England is important'," he said.
Four of England's eight remaining World Cup qualifiers are scheduled to be played on Friday evenings.
Hodgson's training time with his players is already in short supply and he feels it is limited further when his main players are involved in Sunday's fixtures.
He cited the example of Manchester United's recent televised 16:00 BST clash at Southampton, ahead of the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine, as unhelpful scheduling.
Speaking in a question-and-answer session, broadcast on the Football Association's website, he added: "It would be nice if, when we're playing on Friday, the top teams played on Saturday and not Sunday.
"Then on Monday we could do a bit of work and on Tuesday do some serious work.
"But every time, the top clubs have played on Sunday and some at five o'clock on Sunday. If they're from Manchester and they've played in Southampton, they get back late at night then have to come down again."
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Messi played in 60 games last season (72 goals)
Lampard played in 53 games last season (17 goals)
Rooney played in 49 games last season (38 goals)
Defoe played in 40 games last season (17 goals)
& yet it's the English players who need a rest???
So good luck Roy, but I don't expect you to have any joy with your requests.
"In Spain we laugh at your rising Fuel Prices, and countless recessions. We Laugh at your government not having a clue, we laugh at you voting in the Torries and then believing the Lib Dem lies. We laugh at your drastically deteriorating economy."
Don't try to tarnish all Spanish with the same brush - I'm sure not all are as twisted as you are.
Could two short breaks be scheduled either side of the Festive Football period? This would mean the last game day before Boxing Day being the 16th and then no games from FA Cup 3rd Round weekend until the replays 10 days later. Some teams won't even have those so that would take their break up to two weeks.
Get real Roy and erase that selfish attitude
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What? How is it selfish to want the national team to do well without risking injury to players who don't get enough recovery time?
Our National side is playing second fiddle to the Prem, and yet we as a nation still expect to win the World Cup every 4 years.
Roy speaks the truth. Perhaps his experience so far has opened his eyes.
1) The media whipping up jingoism to sell papers. England are an average side at best yet every tournament the media implies England have a divine right to win and it's the manager's fault if England don't win.
2) Too many foreigners in the top end of the league
For 1 the media will do anything to avoid blaming itself and most fans are stupid enough to believe it.
Plus it's been shown by giving players a break they are less likely to pick up injuries and we all want to see our best players playing. As to the Sunday game business, if they're playing on a Friday I don't see it as an issue, if they're playing midweek, then I understand it.
back on topic the whole of spanish football is built on debt even more than the debt clubs in the uk hold. spanish football is riding the crest of a wave at the moment but it will come crashing down sooner or later.
http://www.aljazeera.com/sport/football/2012/04/201241819570284358.html
Totally understand and fully agree with that point. I'd suggest a winter break either directly before Chrimbo when a lot of people are busier thus meaning the players are refreshed going into the four games in ten days (or whatever it is).
Alternatively, have the break after New Years to prepare for the 2nd half of the season and the knockout stages of the CL.
Roy just needs to get on with picking the team and playing the games. We should have beat Ukraine, that's his fault, not Southampton v United being on a Sunday.
In Spain and Italy the lions share of their games are played on a Sunday. Now remind me who won the last two world cups...
Secondly - maybe be an excuse as to why his captain can't last 90mins anymore, thats age im afraid games every three days at gerrards age are difficult!