Friday, 25th July, 2014
Arsene Wenger is the latest Premier League manager to come down heavily on the pre-season sojourns of clubs to far-off places.
Arsenal are in the Unites States to play a pre-season friendly with MLS outfit New York Red Bulls and then will fly to Austria for a training camp, before returning to England next month to host the Emirates Cup.
Wenger has said that pre-season tours have become a commercial activity and have little to do with football.
"These training camps in the modern game are decided for commercial reasons and because of the extent of popularity of the club", the Frenchman was quoted as saying by Reuters.
It is Arsenal’s first visit to the US and Wenger was bemoaning the fact that the squad need to travel long distances to fulfill commercial commitments rather than preparing for the season ahead.
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"We’ve never been to the States before and I was very happy to come to New York – a city I love.
"But for purely football reasons, the best thing to do is stay and not travel too much because of the time you waste and the jet-lag you suffer is not ideal."
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal earlier this week made some scathing remarks about his squad’s pre-season tour to the US and has asked the club to plan a more compact tour next summer.
"We have to prepare the season and when you have commercial activities and dreadful distances, having to fly a lot and the jet lag, it is not very positive for a good preparation", the Dutchman said.
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