The Premier League have confirmed that the 2020/21 season will kick-off on 12 September and they hope to wrap things up by 23 May 2021.
With an international break in early September and the delayed Euro 2020 starting on 11 June 2021, there was little room for manoeuvre in the calendar which means all the domestic games will be squeezed into a schedule that’s a month shorter than usual. We imagine the staggered winter break that was introduced this season will be scrapped.
The Premier League traditionally kicks off in early to mid-August after a three-month hiatus. This summer, Arsenal will have just six weeks ‘off’ between the FA Cup final on 1 August and the start of the new campaign.
Presumably, the players will be given a week to relax but then it’ll be back to the grindstone and a round of pre-season friendlies. There have been whispers of the Gunners playing in Ireland and Scotland but we’ve yet to hear anything concrete.
It remains to be seen what happens with the domestic cup competitions. The participation of top Premier League clubs in the Carabao Cup looks particularly tricky, mostly because matches are likely to clash with European matches.
A report in The Times (£) last month claimed sides with Europa League and Champions League commitments could sit out the competition while the Telegraph reported recently that they might opt to field their youth teams. Again, nothing is confirmed.
The transfer window opens for Premier League clubs for 10 weeks from 27 July. It will then close on 5 October before the UEFA competition squad deadline the following day.
An additional domestic window will continue through to 16 October during which time clubs can do either loans or permanent deals with EFL teams only.
Perhaps good if we have no European football give the intensity of the schedule. Though obviously I want us to win the FA Cup…
I’ll bet there will be more injuries for teams than usual.
I don’t think it will work. We are a big club we need to be in Europe. Yes Chelsea won the league when they were out of Europe. But I think Arteta is looking for depth. If we don’t get in Europe it will be difficult for that as chances of playing will be limited. Arteta play a high intensity game he need 2 capable players in every position. If you analyze well Nketiah and Cedric are clear signs that Arteta wants depth. Same as what Pep is doing at City. For example, Bellerin has been very comfortable at right… Read more »
*Aubameyang is seen as the automatic false -left winger.
Don’t get me wrong – I want to be successful – but perhaps avoiding a midweek game in Kazakhstan isn’t the worst thing next season
All this chat of no Europa league is beyond stupid.
Not only do we get 10s of millions for just being there, it gives our talented young crop invaluable game time at a critical point in their careers.
How else will willock, smith rowe, nelson, and even chambers etc get minutes when we go back?
If we are going to be the big club again we need to work to a challenging schedule. There’s no two ways about it.
we don’t have a big enough squad for 4 competitions, the fa and league cups should be enough for our academy players. it’s like doug said, in a season where we’ll have a match every 5 days maybe to have 2-3 more days of training instead of traveling might be helpful for a coach that’s trying to change his player’s play style. we’re not saying we don’t want to go, just that it might not be that bad not to. cheers.
You’d forfeit a possible way into the Champions League though. More and more I think that it would be easier for us to win the EL right now, than to be in the top 4.
I hope they extend the 5 subs thing to next season, ’cause these boys are gonna be fuuuucked ?
I would sign up right now for 4 subs.
Why is that not even being discussed?
Middle ground, everyone’s happy.
I really like the system currently used, however, one must admit that it would be yet another huge advantage for the very few top teams, because they simply could afford to have the squad depth to not only bring 3 world class players from the bench, but 5. For other teams – and I am afraid that Arsenal would be one of them right now – the quality gap between a starter and a sub might be much larger. Therefore: More changes, more disadvantage. For the general quality of games & health of players it would be a very good… Read more »
Wow, those proposals for the League Cup aren’t exactly nice.
Managers of big clubs always publicly say it’s important, but behind the scenes everyone knows it’s at the bottom of the list in terms of importance.
To outright say you don’t have to participate if you’re in Europe takes what everyone privately acknowledges and shouts it from the rooftops.
Out of curiosity, does winning the Europa League means we qualify for the tournament straight away? Or do we have to go through a qualification round like we do with the CL when finishing 4th?
I am pretty sure we would qualify directly to the group stages of the Europa League if we win the FA Cup, and we could knock sp*rs out of Europe if they finish 7th.
The cherry on top!
I think if we win the Europa League next season we would directly qualify to the CL group stages because of the seeding system .
You get a confirmed birth in CL.
I assume you mean winning the FA Cup. The FA Cup winners are automatically qualified for the group stage. One team from the PL will have to enter the competition in qualification round 2 of 4, therefore win 3 rounds to be in the group stage. This would either be the team 7th or 6th in the PL, depending if Chelsea or Arsenal win the FA Cup. Curiously, if Spurs would be that team, despite starting in qualification round 2, they’d be the top seeds in Pot 1 for the group stage draw in case they reach it, due to… Read more »
very short break would suggest we attempt as least reconstruction as possible. Clearly the more players we have already on Arteta’s program the better. This should point specifically to Ceballos. We should try and convince him and at very least secure another loan deal. I won’t mess around in defense either too much and work with what we have organically to improve. And the reason why I feel we should be scouting for an older player in deep midfield and possibly up top is not just price point availability to us a s a club without CL but they are… Read more »
great plan! no major signings try and get some players at the arse end of their career in for cheap, replace auba with eddie. should get us back in the top 4 no problem.