difficult - if not impossible - for English teams to get to
the final of a European competition. I will be really
campaigning to have a winter break after we have got the
Christmas and New Year periods out of the way - I believe it
is vital and inevitable.
"For me, it will have to happen because we are being left
behind. The other leagues in Spain and Italy and France have
it and you can see it in their football after the breaks.
They are fresher and their players benefit from it
massively. It will be necessary if we are ever to win
another trophy for England.
“Look at Manchester United too. The last time an English
club won the Champions League was when they triumphed in
1999 and that was the season when they were able to give
some of their key players a winter break.
"Players like Schmeichel and Beckham were given weeks off,
to go and get some sun and rest and relax, and that helped
them an awful lot. If you don't do this in England, then you
will pay for it, because it will always be difficult to get
to a European final, and you need that to progress."