“I can’t believe this won’t be fixed,” said Eagles boss Oliver Glasner on Wednesday. “It would be irresponsible for the players and we have a responsibility for them and we have to look after their welfare, but not just ours at the club. I was really upset when I heard it for the first time yesterday. I couldn’t even believe that they were considering this. We are trying the same thing that Arsenal are trying, to move our Leeds game forward to Saturday [December 20], so we don’t have two days between these games.”
Glasner wants dialogue among all the stakeholders and added: “There are people who work on this, and I would really like it if they talked together. We have international games, the two cups and the Premier League. It would be nice if UEFA, the Premier League and the FA talked together because it’s so surprising. Maybe now you can’t find a solution, but we need to get it sorted. It would be irresponsible to play on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
“But there is a solution because the week after, on the 21st [of December] we play Leeds and then we play on the 28th. There was a big discussion as to why there are no Boxing Day [matches]. Again, they fixed these games without talking to anyone. It would be nice if they all talked together; this is their job, what they get paid for.”
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta, speaking before Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Slavia Prague, didn’t hold back: “Hopefully they will move our Premier League match, because to play two days later doesn’t make any sense. So now we decide the date [for the Carabao Cup match] I am sure they will change the Premier League [match] as well.”
When pressed, if he had formally requested the change, Arteta said: “I’ll leave that to the club. I think we’re very clear what was the best thing, the more logical day to play, they bring a different date.”