I was shocked to see Wayne Rooney calling for the Christmas football schedule to be scrapped.
It was insensitive and utterly disrespectful to the people who pay his wages. The festive fixture list is one of the greatest football customs in this country, and it makes me wonder if he has lost touch with his roots.
He says it will take a serious injury for things to change – what an inappropriate thing to say.
You can break a leg, strain a ligament or get concussion in any game. Now, if somebody does get a bad injury, people will say “Wayne told us so” and he can use that to strengthen his argument.
It’s particularly disappointing to hear it from the England captain. At times it seems that foreigners respect English football’s traditions more than we do ourselves.
I have to give Jose Mourinho credit for defending the Christmas and New Year schedule. He’s absolutely right that players and managers get their big salaries from the fans – so if people want to see two games in three days, teams should stop moaning and get on with it. It’s not a time for excuses, especially with the big squads that clubs have nowadays.
Even Louis van Gaal said he understood it was part of the culture here. And then you have South American players like Alexis Sanchez – a guy who has played virtually every minute for Arsenal this season without even a hint of complaint.
The tradition and uniqueness of the Premier League is why foreigners love it so much – they don’t want it to become the same as everything else.
So when a bread-and-butter working class English lad says the schedule has to change it is pretty depressing.
People from Rooney’s background pay their last penny to watch their team play – taking the family to a match is one of the highlights of Christmas for many people. And Rooney would take that away from them to suit himself?
Doesn’t he realise that those people are the reason he is so rich and famous?
So he thinks playing so many games is “very demanding”? No more demanding than the jobs done by his fans. What about the construction worker who has to get up at 6am to dig a road?
Compared to that, 90 minutes doing what you love is easy.
Footballers don’t have much of a Christmas – you’re usually at a hotel instead of with your family – but it’s a small price to pay.
It’s true that playing lots of games in a short time can be tiring, but it’s the same for everyone.
It’s a time to dig in, show some mental strength and play through the pain. And it’s amazing how much fresher you feel when you’re winning – I bet Rooney wouldn’t have said anything if Manchester United had beaten Tottenham.
I’m not a big fan of the winter break, though it does seem that countries who have one suffer fewer physical stress injuries later in the season.
There may be a case for two or three weeks off in January after the FA Cup third round – but to destroy the centrepiece of the English football calendar would be a disgraceful slap in the face to supporters.
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