Ho Ho Ho, Go? No!!

With winter approaching the subject of the need for a winter break in England has again reared its head.

Manchester United manager Luis van Gaal recently described the lack of a winter break in England as “evil” and claims it`s the reason England never do well in major tournaments (and not because a large majority of our players are over -rated) because the players are exhausted.

Arsene Wenger says he felt the same way when he arrived in this country but after 20 years has grown to love the Christmas footballing traditions and went as far as to say he would cry if the traditional fixture was abolished.

“I had [Van Gaal`s] ideas when I arrived here but today I would cry if you changed that because it`s part of English tradition and English football,”

“To suppress the game on Boxing Day? The whole of Europe comes to England to watch the game.”

“It`s a very important part of us being popular in the world, that nobody works at Christmas and everybody watches the Premier League.”

“I want to go on with it, yes. I always pleaded for a break after January 1, but we have to keep this tradition alive.”

The logistics of football in over the Christmas period both from a playing and supporting (away fans) stand point can be a bit of a nightmare but I have to say I`m with Arsene on this one. I love football over Christmas … it`s as Christmassy to me as Christmas trees, turkey, port and Die Hard.

It just has a special feel to it and I hope it doesn`t go anywhere.