Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has already given his thoughts on the lack of support clubs battling in Europe receive from the Premier League, criticising the way the schedule of fixtures can complicate recovery and preparations, and it seems Danny Rose is fully in line when it comes to his own thoughts.
With Spurs focusing on the domestic battle for the top four in the campaign of 2018/19, after the weekend thoughts will quickly turn to the first leg of the Champions League semi-final as we welcomed Dutch side Ajax to White Hart Lane but Ajax have no such problems as the Eredivisie decision makers have cancelled this weekend’s action for a couple of reasons – one of which being to aid their preparation time.
Speaking to the BBC this week, the 28-year-old said.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard that’s what the Dutch were doing. It would be nice if the people in England took a similar stance and helped us out. Ultimately it’s not Tottenham against Ajax. We’re England. When you get to this stage of the season, a little bit of fatigue can start to kick in and every little helps. We want to bring the Champions League, obviously to Tottenham, but we want to bring it to England.”
Plenty of fans will have their own thoughts on the ‘England’ angle as I can’t be alone in not caring about that aspect, but credit where it’s due to the Dutch. There were other aspects to the decision, such as a desire to not have Ajax face De Graafschap at the end of the campaign when other matches had already been decided, but it’s a bold statement of backing nonetheless.
For those clubs who would like a little extra leeway in preparations in future, this decision may well help their cause.