Arsenal: Arsene Wenger’s fixture complaints fair and foul

Arsene Wenger has complained about Arsenal’s fixture list this week. While they are fair in some regards, he only has himself to blame for their appearing in the Europa League.

Complaints about the fixture list are natural. It is a manager’s job to complain about the fixture list. Or at least it feels like it. And now Arsene Wenger is the latest to have his own jab at the schedule makers, bemoaning the packed number of games, and times of those games, that his Arsenal side must play this week.

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His complaint is not centred on the fact that the Gunners have three games in a week including a trip to Belarus in the middle. Rather, it is the timings of those games that has irked Wenger. On the first weekend, rather than play on the Saturday like 16 of the other 20 Premier League clubs, including all the other clubs with European commitments, Arsenal had to wait until Monday night.

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And then, to add to their congestion, they play in the earliest possible slot on the next weekend: a 12:00 PM kick off at home against Brighton and Hove Albion. When asked about the possible squad rotation for the upcoming tie against BATE Borisov on Thursday, Wenger was quick to turn his answer towards the harshness of the fixture list:

"“I have a decision to make and at the moment I would say that the schedule for us is a bit cruel. We played tonight, we play in BATE Borisov on Thursday night and play Sunday at 12 o’clock here. When you look at the schedule over the weekend I think there was some room for us to be scheduled differently. ‘But we have to accept it and we want to go to Borisov with a good team. I will go with a team of senior players and certainly with a young bench.”"

He does, actually, have a fair point. No other club in either the Champions League or Europa League, for example, played on Monday night. And the two weekends that bookend a trip to Belarus feature the latest possible slated game – Monday –, and the earliest possible slated game – Sunday lunchtime. That does seem a little unfair.

However, the Thursday-Sunday routine of the Europa League is nothing new. It is not a surprise. And it is Wenger’s fault that Arsenal were unable to finish in the top-four last season and qualify for the Champions League, thus sparing themselves the agony of the Europa League campaign and the influence it has on the league.

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Thankfully, though, Wenger does end his complaint with the acceptance that he and his players will simply have to deal with it and move on. And that is exactly the correct attitude to have. The fixture list may be a little unfair. But it is something that is out of your control. Focus on what is in your control, instead, and that is what Wenger seems to be doing.