Arsenal swatted aside Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby on Sunday afternoon to kick off a tough week in the perfect way. The festive season has the Gunners facing a gauntlet of difficult fixtures, which have been made slightly harder after recent scheduling.
Not only was the Gunners’ request to play their quarter-final League Cup clash with Crystal Palace on the original week it was scheduled to be played ignored, but Mikel Arteta also saw their trip to Everton moved to avoid playing two games in three days. With Bayern Munich and Chelsea this week the challenge has stepped up considerably.
However, speaking on our unofficial Arsenal podcast ‘Seeing Red’ this week, John Cross told Tom Canton how crazy next week’s matches with Brentford and Aston Villa are. The chief football writer makes a strong point and one which highlights a problem for Arteta and a potential blow to the club’s title hopes.
“I looked at this, and I know I've got this sort of one that sort of grates with me a little bit, and I'll come on to it,” Cross said. “Chelsea away on Sunday, followed by Brentford at home on Wednesday night, followed by Aston Villa, who are in a rich vein of form on Saturday lunchtime. That is downright criminal.
“Honestly, that is a shocker.” Cross added: “So Crystal Palace were able to shift their game to give their players a bit of a break. Well, can Arsenal ring up the Premier League and say this is not on?
“I mean, honestly, I do think away from home, Saturday lunchtime after the Wednesday night game. Are you serious?"
Canton jumps in to remind Cross of a famous former Premier League manager whose words were echoing in this conversation: “I'm hearing Jurgen Klopp in my ear.”
Cross continues: “I think that's crazy. I don't think that's right.
“And I think it would be okay if it was the same for everyone. But sorry, but when you're shifting games like they have done now for other teams, well, how's this come about?
“So basically, you will definitely have to utilise that squad and be part of it. But also, I don't think you can really kind of stay at an intense level while changing six, seven, eight players and basically, you can't, you really got to manage it ever so cleverly.”