Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has blasted the busy holiday schedule calling it ‘ridiculous’.
The Saints manager takes on Arsenal on Boxing Day before playing West ham two days later, leading to the Dutchman to say he will have to make a host of changes to the teams he puts out for each match.
“It’s less than 48 hours (between the two Premier League matches),” he said. “That’s ridiculous.”
“We play at 7.45pm [against Arsenal] and I think at West Ham we play at 5.30pm and it’s less than 48 hours.
“Players need at least 48 hours [to recover] and I watch back to last season and I made four changes for the Boxing Day game at Crystal Palace and the Chelsea game on the 28th, and maybe I have to do more now because you need fresh people and you are not so fresh if it’s 45 or 46 hours after the first match.”
