Wenger calls for fixture switch
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has complained that there needs to be a change in the international fixture list to ease the gruelling schedule for elite teams battling for domestic and European honours.
The Gunners kick off their UEFA Champions League group campaign away to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday night after overpowering Dutch outfit FC Twente in a qualifying tie.
Arsenal's first leg qualifier was held before the first game of the Premier League season, with the domestic action now having only just resumed after the international break.
Wenger said: "There is not much you can say, but the Premier League does not do a lot for us. The qualifiers are in a very bad position.
"Then the international friendly comes at a bad time for a team which plays in the qualifiers for the Champions League.
"But the main reproach I make - and I have asked this for a long, long time - is that the second [international] game is on the Tuesday.
"For example, Carlos Vela played on Wednesday night - but he did not finish until 4am on Thursday morning, because that was 9pm in Mexico.
"It means it is impossible to get that sort of player back for the next league game.
"You end up paying the players to go to the national team for two games and then you can't use them.
"You have a two-week break, but you can't even use them when they return."
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Arsenal sure has a lot to travel in this years Champions League!
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he got what no complain one?