The English Professional Football League (EFL) said in a strongly worded statement that the expanded scale of European competitions is "damaging" the reputation of English professional football competitions such as the League Cup. They understand the dissatisfaction of Arsenal and Crystal Palace, but this inevitable situation is due to the commitment, or emphasis, of both parties to European competitions.
The statement read: "Continuous concessions will only damage the reputation of the English League Cup, a competition that brings important revenue to EFL clubs and provides millions of fans with the opportunity to travel to Wembley Stadium to support the team every year. It also challenges the traditional arrangement of the English football calendar and the domestic competition. Strength, these all rely on the team having enough time to prepare and being able to field the strongest lineup to make their fans happy and move forward. "
The League Cup match against Arsenal was originally scheduled for December 16, local time, which means that Crystal Palace may play 3 games in 5 days. Crystal Palace believe the team will lose a full day preparing for the Carabao Cup tie due to their UEFA Europa League participation, although Arsenal opposes the request and wants the game to go ahead as scheduled. In the end, it was confirmed that the League Cup match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace, originally scheduled for December 16, was rescheduled for the 23rd.
The new schedule means that both teams will now play two games in three days, which is not a situation Arteta wants to see. Before the Champions League match against Slavia Prague, Arteta said: "I hope they make adjustments to our Premier League schedule, because that arrangement obviously doesn't make sense. Now we will decide the match dates and I leave this issue to the club.
"We know very well what kind of schedule is the most reasonable and logical. So we have to adapt to the changes they make to the schedule and we're definitely looking at the players first and then the fans and we have to make sure every club has an equal opportunity and I hope that's fair. "
Although the Gunners made 10 rotations against Brighton in the League Cup, Iocles still suffered a muscle injury in the Premier League victory over Burnley and he will miss the game against Slavia Prague. This also means that the Gunners currently have as many as 7 attackers unavailable.
Arteta said: "I don't know how deep we are discussing now, because we are missing a lot of players, especially on the offensive end. If we continue to play one game every three days then we need to be respected. We have discussed the topic of player welfare before and we think it is very important. "
When talking about the injured Yockers, Arteta said: "I am very worried because he rarely had muscle problems before. That's not a good sign, especially for an explosive player. We are learning more about the injury and will make an announcement once it is determined. He was disappointed with himself after the game, but that's part of football. We will help him because, as you said, Jocles is in very good shape and he is very important to the team. "
Mini-game recommendations:Little Alchemy