Toby Alderweireld: 'Winter break would help England'

Tottenham Hotspur defender Toby Alderweireld has suggested that the introduction of a winter break in the Premier League would help the England team.

The Three Lions suffered another early exit from a major tournament this summer, being dumped out of Euro 2016 by minnows Iceland in the last 16.

It is the latest in a long line of national team failures, and Alderweireld believes that the lack of a winter break is harming them compared to other national teams.

"Who am I, of course, to judge them, but the Premier League must urgently think about a rest period in a European Championship or World Cup year," he told the Standard.

"We are working day by day for a year. When the other leagues take a winter break, we just gear up. That creeps into your clothes and translates into the elimination of England."

Alderweireld is one of a number of Belgian players who ply their trade in the Premier League yet have reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2016.