Sven plays Santa for City stars Written by: AFP  |  |
| | Stiliyan Petrov(R) of Aston Villa collides with Rolando Bianchi of Manchester City during the Premier league football match at Villa Park, Birmingham. Martin OŽNeill was forced to endure another frustrating afternoon as Aston Villa were held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester City on Saturday - their third successive game at Villa Park without a win. |
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BIRMINGHAM (AFP) - Sven-Goran Eriksson has decided to play Santa Claus at Manchester City by giving his players a holiday on Christmas Day rather than make them slog through training like most of their peers at other English clubs.
Following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Aston Villa -- the club's latest failure to earn a victory on their travels in a sequence that stretches back to the opening day of the season -- Eriksson is determined to ease the burden on his players in the midst of an energy sapping run of five games in 15 days.
Manchester City face Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday, but the Swedish manager is determined to do everything he can to help his many foreign players cope with the unusually demanding English Premier League.
"Many of them will not be used to the demands and I have told them all to have Christmas Day to themselves. It is important for them not only physically, but mentally too. They should look after their families, open presents and have a nice meal," said Eriksson.
"Many of them have not played in a league like this with the pace and physical demands and when you have five games in 15 days, you need to make sure that one of those other days is a rest day.
"We have got very big games coming up against Blackburn and Liverpool and it is extremely important to us to be ready for those and get results if we want to remain where we are now into the New Year."
City retained their fourth place in the table thanks to Rolando Bianchi’s third goal in four games, as the 8.8-million-pound signing from Reggina continues to show he is adapting to life at this level, but they had to withstand some heavy pressure from Villa, who have now failed to win in their last three games at Villa Park.
Eriksson knows that the hectic phase ahead will define his team’s season and added: "Not too many experts expect anything other than the big four to finish as the top four in the league this season. I am the same.
"It would be a big surprise if someone like us, Aston Villa or Portsmouth could finish in the top four, but we want to fight as long as we can to make that happen."
John Carew’s fourth goal of the season earned Villa the point they at least deserved, but just two points from their last four games has seen their bid to enter the UEFA Cup places stall and O’Neill will be looking to reinforce that bid with new players in January.
Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte remains a possibility as the Ulsterman looks for a right-back to replace Swedish international Olof Mellberg, who is considering leaving the club in the summer, when his contract expires.
"We have a settled squad, but we would not have been able to cope with a long list of injuries, the kind of injuries that West Ham have suffered this season. So we would like to bring in some new players in January and we will be trying to do that," O'Neill said.
Villa have an equally demanding schedule of 5 games in 16 days, starting at Chelsea on Boxing Day and O’Neill added: "It is a tough period and it has always been critical in England, around the Christmas period.
"It is a great time of year and there is the prospect of the tables changing dramatically and quickly because the games happen so fast and this is where we will find our squad tested. It is one of the smallest in the Premiership."
Aww how nice.