Never mind what TS Eliot had to say about April, there can be little doubt that December is “the cruellest month” for Premier League footballers. This was especially true of the one just seen, which managed to cram seven full rounds of fixtures into its page on the calendar. If the New Year’s Day activity is included, which it probably should be as it marks the end of frantic festive programming before the much needed intermission for the FA Cup, the true figure is eight games played within just over four weeks.
That is a lot and it is no wonder managers from Pep Guardiola to Alan Pardew have been complaining about unnecessary and sometimes unfair strain on sinews and squads.
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