England finally get a break to challenge the world

England's chances of winning their first trophy in more than half a century received a major boost when the Premier League went against tradition and opted for a mid-season break.

England manager Gareth Southgate Source: Getty Images

For the first time in history, the top English competition that kicks off in a fortnight will have a clean break for two weeks.

After the round of matches ending on Monday, February 10 (AEST) the competition will go into recess up to Monday, February 24.

It's only a little break but it will be seen as manna by the battle-weary players in the Premier League and its value should not be underestimated. 

This is most welcome news to England manager Gareth Southgate, whose promising team will be among the favourites for the 2020 European Championship finals in June.

One of the most common reasons - or excuses - put forward for England's consistent failure to win the FIFA World Cup or European Championship since their glory days in 1966 was the uninterrupted domestic season that left the national team players physically and mentally drained, sometimes looking more like three sheep than the Three Lions.

Several England managers and the English media for years had been campaigning for a break around Christmas but the clubs were understandably reluctant to deprive themselves of the considerable gains from a popular period among the fans.

A two-week break in February appears to be a very wise compromise that will benefit everybody, not least the England team that is showing signs of great things to come after narrowly missing out on a place in the 2018 World Cup final.

Southgate's men had a good tournament and were on their way to the final when they led Croatia but they ran out of legs in the second half and lost 2-1.

This is purely hypothetical but who knows what England could have achieved if their players had had the luxury of a little break in the middle of the 2017-18 season?

Germany's Bundesliga has had a mid-season recess for many years and this might explain why the Germans usually perform so strongly in end-of-season major tournaments.

Spain's La Liga, France's Ligue 1 and Italy's Serie A also have mid-season breaks.

One can argue that the Premier League is crammed with foreign international stars who should be similarly drained by the time a major competition comes along at the end of the season.

Yet the German, Spanish, French and Italian national teams generally comprise players who usually have a break during the season and this is something you cannot say of their English counterparts.

It would be interesting to see if England show a marked improvement from a physical and mental point of view when the cream of Europe battles for continental supremacy in less than a year.

Liverpool will definitely welcome the groundbreaking recess.

Manager Jurgen Klopp's players are facing a month of hell in December when they will be forced to play at least nine matches in 29 days.

As European champions, Liverpool are engaged in the annual FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar on December 18 and 21, a week after their last group game in the UEFA Champions League.

The League Cup quarter-finals are scheduled for the CWC week and, should the Reds reach that stage of the domestic tournament, their tie will have to be postponed.

Liverpool's league match away to West Ham on December 21 will also have to be postponed.

Liverpool however will play six times in the Premier League, once in the UCL and twice in the CWC from December 4 to January 1 in what should be a stern test of the club's depth.

By the end of that daunting task, even for a big club such as Liverpool, the mid-season break will not come soon enough.

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