Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says it would not be fair to move the club’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Crystal Palace to Dec. 23, with the Eagles seeking an alternative date for the fixture amid an unprecedented pile-up of matches.
December is traditionally a month where at least seven Premier League games are crammed in, offering broadcasters live midweek coverage in addition to the glut of football usually penned in for the Christmas period.
This season is no different—despite the traditional Boxing Day slate featuring just one game—and clubs in European competition also have to balance their continental duties with domestic cup duties, should they make it through to the latter stages of the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal and Palace have done just that, overcoming Brighton & Hove Albion and Liverpool in the fourth round respectively, and their quarter-final clash has been scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 16. But that gives Oliver Glasner’s Eagles are a scarcely believable run of three matches in five days—Manchester City are due to visit Selhurst Park two days prior in the Premier League before Palace take on KuPS in the Conference League two days later.
As such, Palace are looking to move the game, with Arsenal facing Wolves a day before City head to south London. Playing on Christmas Eve has been ruled out after consultation with the Metropolitan police and Transport for London, leading to Tuesday, Dec. 23 being proposed as a potential option.
That’s not something Arsenal or Arteta are on board with, though, as the Spaniard outlined in his latest news conference that the Gunners have to consider their own interests and hectic schedule.
“I don’t think that’s fair, because we have other competitions as well we have to try to accommodate,” Arteta remarked. “We knew at the start of the season the competitions that each club is playing in … On balance we have to try to accommodate the best possible way for everybody.”
Specifically discussing the proposed Dec. 23 date and whether it would work, he said: “No, there are others. There are others, believe me, there are other options much better than this one. We already suggested that.”
The EFL, who govern the Carabao Cup, are yet to make an official ruling, with both teams expected to find out in the coming week when the game will be played. It’s likely one party will be disappointed by the outcome—just who that is remains to be seen.
Arteta: Hopefully Strikes Are Not Necessary
The notion that players are overworked and have too many games to play in a condensed period of time is nothing new. There's been a number of concerns raised in regards to a lack of time off for those operating at an elite level—this summer’s Club World Cup offered little respite to players from Chelsea, Manchester City, Real Madrid and other leading clubs—and it’s been suggested that strike action may be required to make governing bodies listen.
That, in the estimation of Arteta, is something he hopes will never come to fruition, though he did acknowledge the need to take care of players and supporters alike.
“Hopefully not. If we look after the players' welfare and our supporters, I think we're never going to get to that point. And that's it. We have to close the window there. We cannot open that window. It has to be closed. It's our most precious value.
“We have the best league in the world and we cannot just open any window for anything just to lose that because we don't respect that, and we forget what we are made of and what makes this game and this league so, so special. And if we respect that, I'm sure we're going to be totally fine.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Unfair’—Arsenal Against Crystal Palace Request, Believe Other Options Exist.