IF there ever was a reason to pinpoint one of the major reasons for England not delivering at major tournaments it’s the punishing schedule that we all witnessed during the Christmas and New Year period.

Every major league was on its festive break and England with its propensity to tradition still stuck with its schedule of the Boxing Day and New Years fixtures. This was a throwback to a once golden age where there wasn’t so many games as like now.

Managers like Pep Guardiola have complained about the punishing schedule of the festive season and have so many key players out because of the nature of the games. In this day and age of the “artist” players, it’s beyond reason to play a game every two days. Plus who is even watching so many games back to back in the festive period?

There are just too many matches these days and the audiences in this part of the world are subject to 4am kickoff of choice games. This defeats the purpose entirely. Some of the games even lacked the quality that the premier league is associated with.

The other side of the coin is that clubs have taken the television money and can’t complain right now of the schedule imposed which is because of TV. The huge amounts of money poured into TV rights is one of the prime reasons why there will be no winter breaks in England for the near future.

Clubs have lined up to take the money and the windfall and now can’t complain about the punishing schedule when it doesn’t suit them. It’s all about money from now and Pep is the last person who should be complaining about money in football too.

With a winter break, yes, the tradition is lost but it begs the question that with most of the main European leagues on holiday and their players refreshed, isn’t it about time the English follow suit if not to give their national team some sort of level playing field in the coming World Cup. These players will be playing for 11 months straight by the time the World Cup comes around.

It’s not hard to see why this will always be one of the major reasons why England doesn’t do so well in tournaments. Well, the senior team that is. – January 6, 2017.

* Gogulan Dorairajoo is manager of KL Galaxy FC and an all-round football pundit with a passion for the world’s greatest sport. He also happens to be a long suffering fan of Aston Villa FC.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.