Arsène Wenger glad Arsenal do not face ‘nightmare’ post-season tour
Wenger's side will play only two far-flung pre-season friendlies - at the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore on 15-18 July, at which Everton and Stoke City will also compete. Arsenal are set to travel the least of England's leading clubs, with Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool committed to summer tours of greater timespan and/or distance. Chelsea and United will play matches in the United States in July, City and Liverpool go to Australia at around the same time, with Liverpool also visiting Malaysia, the Guardian reported. In addition, Chelsea are expected to conduct a one-week tour either to the US or the far east and City will visit Canada. Tottenham Hotspur have also planned a post-season tour; they play in Malaysia on 27 May and Australia on 30 May. Wenger said he would not take his players away at the end of a season. "A post-season tour is a nightmare," he said. "In pre-season, you have the players under pressure with the focus of starting the season well. A post-season tour, I always feel people come along to watch but the players are half on their holidays. "It is a relaxed atmosphere with none of the intensity of a pre-season game. Maybe it is a holiday tour and good to have a relaxed atmosphere together but from a purely football point of view, there is not much meaning - let's be honest." The summer will feature national team commitments for many of the players. There are Euro 2016 qualifiers as late as 14 June - when England, for example, will play Slovenia - while the Copa América runs in Chile from 11 June to 4 July. Arsenal have three South American players who are in line to feature - David Ospina (Colombia), Gabriel (Brazil) and Alexis Sánchez (Chile). Wenger, though, is vexed by the start date for next season, which the Premier League have announced will be 8 August, with a view to an early finish, with Euro 2016 in mind. Wenger said he had voted against the measure. "I opposed the early start because I preferred to play one more game over Christmas because everybody has the squad that can deal with it and give the players a real rest in the summer," the manager said. "They voted to start early in August and that is a bit of a nightmare. Some players are still playing on June 14 in Europe and then there is the Copa América. "That is after a season where you have had no winter break. I don't see where you go from there to give the players a proper rest. It is impossible. You have had no rest in the winter; now the decision is no rest in the summer, either." Wenger is happy, at least, that the commercial powers at Arsenal have chosen to limit themselves to the short stint in Singapore. "I am quite pleased with that because pre-season is always a difficult time to prepare well," he said. "The commercial pressures are difficult but you want to find a compromise. We cannot ignore anymore the worldwide reputation and I would say it [a tour] is more PR than finances. "I hope we can benefit from keeping our tour short. In recent years, I was always worried that we had a qualifier for the Champions League so let's first make sure that we don't need that, and then we'll see. It is interesting that we have only one week to dedicate to that [a tour]."
