Explained: The fixture pile-up that could derail Manchester United's Premier League season
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Updated 24/02/2017 at 09:33 GMT
Manchester United’s cup success has come at a price, with Jose Mourinho’s side facing problematic fixture congestion in the remaining months of the season.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
Image credit: Reuters
If United beat Chelsea in the next round of the FA Cup they will have three postponed games, but just two remaining midweek slots available in which to play them.
It's a situation that has not gone unnoticed by Mourinho, who said earlier this week:
The accumulation of FA Cup and League Cup and the match postponement make it really hard for us. If we progress in the competitions we will be in trouble in May.
United have won just one trophy since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, but the possibility of a cup treble remains this season, with the club's manager insisting that he is taking all competitions seriously:
It will be difficult but we don’t throw away competitions. We know it can have an impact in the Premier League because we compete against teams in other circumstances. For example, Liverpool play only in the Premier League, Chelsea in the Premier League and FA Cup. Tottenham are in similar situation to us but we want to progress. We prefer difficult and progressing to easy and being out of the competition.
Mourinho's side are in a group of five teams chasing three Champions League places, meaning that taking the Europa League games lightly is not a viable option for a club desperate to return to Europe's top table - as the coach explained:
The plus is it [the Europa League] is another opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. We have two doors still open. One is the Europa League but we know we are in the last 32, not even the last eight or four, so there is a long way to go. In the Premier League the door is also open but we still have a long way to go.
Too many games, too little time
United’s progression through to the final of the League Cup and the quarter-finals of the FA Cup has left them with two postponed Premier League matches needing to be rearranged before the end of the campaign.
But the league’s decision not to schedule one of those matches for the available Wednesday 1 March slot has exacerbated the problem.
As a report by the Manchester Evening News explained on Friday, there are currently just two available midweeks in which United could play those two games in hand against Manchester City and Southampton. And if Mourinho’s side beat Chelsea in their FA Cup quarter-final next month then an additional Premier League game (Burnley away on April 22) will also need to be rearranged.
Even if Manchester United slip out of the Europa League, UEFA rules dictate that domestic fixtures cannot clash with European matches (unless a compromise can be reached), effectively ruling out any additional spare midweeks in which to play that Burnley fixture.
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Manchester United will need to make use of their full squad in a packed last three months of the season
Image credit: Reuters
What are the solutions?
Manchester United could play their final league game on Tuesday 23 May, but that comes after the final weekend of the season and Premier League chiefs will be keen to avoid such a scenario.
If United are knocked out of the Europa League then they could request to have a weekend game pushed to a Friday night, allowing for a Friday-Monday turnaround.
But if United reach the final of the Europa League and no solution can be agreed between the Premier League or UEFA, then the club will face playing two games over the same weekend, with Saturday to Monday the least demanding outcome.
Our view
A lack of foresight from the Premier League has created this scenario, which at best is lax and at worst is incompetent.
For this to avoid becoming a huge story then Jose Mourinho will need to take it on the chin and deal with the fixture inconvenience quietly and respectfully…
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Jose Mourinho
Image credit: Reuters
Huge story it is then.
After all, we are talking about the manager who - when faced with the small matter of the Chelsea FA Cup quarter-final being scheduled for a Monday evening - reacted like this:
I feel really surprised that the decision was made before our draw in Europe, because at this moment nobody knows where is the first match, where is the second match, who we play against and where the first match is. Imagine playing Chelsea on the Monday and then have to go for the second leg in Europe on Thursday to Russia, in Turkey or in Greece. I think that once more the television interests are going in front of the clubs and the interests of English football and nobody cares. Nobody cares about it.
Jose may be correct in asserting that nobody cares, but that won’t stop him shouting into the wind about fixture injustices until he’s blue in the face. Strap yourselves in folks, this one’s going to be a bumpy ride.
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