It might seem odd to bring up the subject of a winter break as we sit slap bang in the middle of the summer transfer window but bear with us on this one. You see, we just can’t shake the feeling that a month’s break during the winter just might have seen us competing at the top of the table.

The subject of a winter break is no new one. We’ve all heard the arguments from continental managers over the years, and we’ve all said ‘yeah but we love our Christmas football.’ However, the idea that a winter break means no Boxing Day matches is a ridiculous one as we can just start the break straight after the holidays. Giving us three or four weeks off in January can’t really hurt.

But why do we think this would have benefited the team last season?

Well, aside from the obvious fatigue and injury issues that come with players who have no rest at all, there’s also the chance to break a poor run of results (although the same could be said for a good run too).

No matter how unlucky we think we were, the fact remains that we dropped 14 points in a series of ridiculous draws last season. That’s 14 points that would have put us in third. Okay so not quite winning the league but a hell of a lot better than sixth. A winter break would have given us a much-needed chance to take stock of our tactics and adopt a different approach to our games. It would have given the coaching staff a window of time to study the analytics of each match and figure out where we were going wrong (besides hitting the woodwork).

Take the World Series of Poker November Nine as a perfect example. Back in 2008 the organizers came up with the idea to have a break once the final table has been decided.   This means that poker players can change their game to give themselves the best opportunity and to play havoc with their opponents tactics. This is something that they couldn’t have done in the middle of a poker tournament. The break allows them a window of time (nearly four months to be exact) during which they can take a look back on how they played their own hands. They can also study their opponents poker play and if they feel it will help them, they can change their own style completely. And while this was initially intended to generate interest in the WSOP, there’s no doubt that it’s helping the players in a big way.

This kind of opportunity would have been gold to use last season or any season we’ve been off colour in the league for that matter. Mourinho is undoubtedly a good manager, and we’ll see just how well his approach to the game works now that he has his top target on the training ground. But there’s a general feeling that at times last season, he looked a bit out of his depth with regards to tactics. This of course is a somewhat ridiculous statement for such a successful manager, but one that nevertheless has a certain air of truth about it.

A winter break would have been an incredible boon to Jose last season as it would have given him the opportunity to test out new tactics and formations on the training ground without the pressure of a midweek fixture looming over him. This would have had a knock-on effect with the team resulting in higher confidence levels which we would have seen translated into performances on the pitch.

Yes, we won two cups last season, but we could have easily won two cups and finished higher up the table but for a few weeks’ rest in the middle of a season with no summer tournaments.

So get it done Premier League chiefs, a winter break is what we need.