Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has indicated that Arsenal should be challenging for the Premier League title as they cannot complain about scheduling because of the heavily rotated squad Arsene Wenger has been playing in the Europa League this season.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has complained about playing Liverpool on Saturday after travelling away to Qarabag on Wednesday night and believes the scheduling needs to be much better for bigger games.
The Chelsea tactician enjoyed a lack of European football last season as his side romped to the Premier League title and Pochettino believes Conte is facing the same issues that most managers faced last term.
He admits that if a team have ambition to win the Premier League and the Champions League, then the careful rotation of the squad becomes hugely important.
Pochettino indicated that teams such as Arsenal, who have been playing heavily rotated squads in the Europa League, could easily compete for the title because of the freshness of their players.
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Asked about Conte’s comments, the Tottenham boss said in a press conference: “Of course, now he’s feeling the same as we felt last season when you are a contender and competing in Europe – the Champions League and Europa League are the same, always it’s complicated.
“I think if you take the Europa League like Arsenal when you’re always rotating the team and playing with a different team in the Premier League then maybe you can arrive fresh and be a contender in the Premier League.
“If you want to win the Europa League and the Premier League or the Champions League and the Premier League, you need to be right how you rotate and manage your squad.”
Wenger is again set to play a massively changed Arsenal team, from the one that defeated Tottenham last weekend, at 1.FC Koln tonight in the Europa League.
