O’Neill fears burnout may hamper Villa
O’Neill took the opportunity to field a virtual second string team for Wednesday’s UEFA Cup clash in Hamburg, with qualification for the final 32 already assured. He left Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, Gareth Barry, Martin Laursen and James Milner behind to recharge their batteries in time for this evening’s match at West Ham and the demanding festive programme.
O’Neill’s team have been playing competitive football since mid-July in the Intertoto Cup — and he will seize any opportunity to give his players a break. But he feels football in general would benefit from a lull in the action after the third round of the FA Cup, even if it is only for a fortnight and means the absence of football for just one weekend.
“The minute we qualified for the next round of the UEFA Cup, I was always going to prioritise — with the West Ham game coming up this weekend,” he said.
“I gave the five players the time off. What I tell them to do and what they do are two different things — but that was the plan. If your first competitive game is halfway through July, I think there are going to be elements of fatigue coming through at some stage or other during the season. It is hard for the players to maintain things.”
The toll taken by an almost non-stop schedule is an ongoing worry for O’Neill.
“It is always in the back of my mind that we started very early. I am not saying when we hit a poor patch it will be because of tiredness — but I am sure there will be element of that.
“I would be a great advocate of the mid-winter break — even if it meant missing only one particular weekend. After the FA Cup third round, if you were to take the following weekend out of the equation.”
O’Neill is also mindful that some of his young players may again have a hectic summer, with England competing in the European U-21 Championship finals. The likes of Agbonlahor and Milner will still be eligible to play.
He said: “Some of our players will be in the U21 Championships, so that is all summer taken up. Then apparently we are going to start next season earlier, so Fabio Capello can have a longer period before the World Cup with England. Eventually international players just do not get a chance of a break — and they are burnt out.”
O’Neill is a great admirer of Hammers boss Gianfranco Zola. He said: “The consequence of winning the game might be that we go third. But West Ham’s performance against Chelsea was excellent, and they are just beginning to get to grips with it all under Zola.
“I don’t think there has been a more popular manager appointed in the game in the last 15-20 years.
“He is just an absolute gentleman. He is a very impressive man. There is no reason why he shouldn’t go on and be a top manager.”
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