Arsene Wenger wanted Premier League put back a week after World Cup

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that the Premier League season should have been kicking off one week later than scheduled to give international players the chance to recover from the World Cup.

Wenger had 11 of his squad out in Brazil, and winners Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski have only just returned to training after their exploits with Germany.

"We could have done with one week later in all the competitions," Wenger is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"The final of the World Cup was on July 13; the start of the Premier League season is August 16. If you want to give some holiday to the players, your preparation becomes very short.

"If you don't give players enough holiday or enough build-up in their preparation and play them straight away, then they get injured."

Ozil, Mertesacker and Podolski are all doubts for Saturday's Premier League opener against Crystal Palace.