Former Manchester City defender Danny Mills has claimed that the lack of a winter break in England stops the Premier League from having the best quality of football.
Teams in England see games come thick and fast during the Christmas and New Year period, leading to an annual debate about whether players risk burnout.
Mills told BBC Sport: "The Premier League is a fantastic product, unlike any other league in the world. But if you look at the actual quality of football, it's clearly not the best.
"What are the reasons for that? There is no winter break, and players are getting tired. Look at Southampton - a lot of their players that have come in from around Europe, they are used to having a break.
"Such is the intensity of the Premier League, are they perhaps a bit too tired now because they haven't had one? Does that explain why their form has tailed off?"
Most leagues in Europe take several weeks off during the festive period.
