NEWS: Deadly rivals Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have both come out strongly against the demands being made on Premiership footballers. The Manchester United boss is to is to ask Sven-Goran Eriksson to support his call for a reduction in the size of the Premiership, while the Arsenal boss has been critical of friendly internationals late in the season.
Ferguson yesterday reacted to criticism of Manchester United's reluctance to release players for international friendlies by blaming the Football Association in England for choosing inappropriate times for the matches.
Wenger said last night: "There is a conflict of interest between a friendly and a big cup game or a Champions League game. The players don't want to get injured. They want to win for their national team but, sub-consciously, they know it is a friendly. How can you concentrate completely? Don't blame Eriksson or the players. Blame the fixtures."
Most of Ferguson's anger was directed towards the Premier League chairmen for vetoing proposals from United and Arsenal to reduce the Premiership to 16 clubs.
He said: "The irony is we were the only two clubs to want a reduction and it's us now who are getting all the criticism It's not fair to blame players, managers or the coach of the national team, we should be blaming the authorities. Every season we get an international friendly towards the end of the season - usually March or April but February this year - and I've never been able to understand that.
"By the same token, why wasn't the England game against Australia played on Tuesday rather than Wednesday so the players would have extra time to recuperate for the weekend matches? When there is a game of the magnitude of Manchester United versus Arsenal on the Saturday, with a 12.15 kick-off, there are bound to be problems.
"For medical purposes players are supposed to have 72 hours rest between games. Well, the Arsenal and United players involved with England haven't had that"
Along with Wenger, Terry Venables, Sir Bobby Robson and Gerard Houllier, Ferguson will accept an invitation from the FA to meet Eriksson next month to discuss the England coach's concerns that they are denying him fair access to his best players.
However, United were among the clubs who, citing the loss in finances, opposed UEFA's decision to abolish the second group stage of the Champions League from next season.
• Guardian Service
