Yahoo News Aston Villa concern comes to light and the Premier League must take note
The Premier League is the best division in world football, so why were Aston Villa the only English club to reach a European semi-final this season?
Clubs across the league have struggled with injury crisis' this term, Villa being one. Some clubs have bigger squads than others, leaving Chelsea able to field a strong XI despite having more than 10 absentees for the majority of the campaign.
Even though many will poke fun at Manchester United for their poor season, they literally had no centre-back to call on for their trip to Crystal Palace. Newcastle and Brighton's domestic and European campaigns have been hampered by injuries, while Wolves' hopes of competing for European football were dashed after several injuries in forward positions.
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You could go on and on. Every club has been affected by the intensity and demands of the best league in the world. Here lies the problem.
As seen this season, Premier League clubs can be at a disadvantage to many other sides from different leagues who are competing for those European honours.
Granted, West Ham and Man City both won two of the three UEFA titles up for grabs last term, but while the calendar is showing no sign of any let up and if anything is becoming more cluttered, conversations need to be had about how the league can assist clubs competing in Europe.
In the end, Italy and Germany ran away with the race for an extra space in the Champions League for next season. The Premier League's hopes were ended after Arsenal lost to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund beat Atletico Madrid in the lead up to Villa's second leg win over Lille in the Europa Conference League quarter-final.
The LFP granted Lille a free weekend before the first and second legs, with their domestic duties rescheduled. Paulo Fonseca's side probably should have gone through largely because they were fresh and able to compete at their best level.
Villa, meanwhile, had to play league title challengers Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. They won the game 2-0, before then digging deep to beat Bournemouth 3-1 following a penalty shoot-out victory over Lille.
Since the victory over the Cherries, Villa have looked leggy, but that’s not a criticism, it’s just the reality of the situation they find themselves in.
They have played 54 games this season. That’s a huge amount of games for a squad who has suffered serious injury blows even before the start of the campaign at Newcastle.
Emery was without eight players for the second leg against Olympiacos on Thursday night.
While Villa have not opened official dialogue with the league, it's understood that they'd suggest more can be done to facilitate suitable rest periods between European and domestic fixtures. It would be in the Premier League's interest to help clubs who are participating in the knockout rounds of European competitions due to increasing importance of coefficient rankings.
It is thought that Villa were particularly frustrated after their home clash against Tottenham in March was moved to a 1pm kick-off on a Sunday. The game was rescheduled after Liverpool vs Man City was brought forward on the same day to a 3:40pm kick-off at the request of the police.
