Ferguson has, along with many other Premier League managers, long been an advocate of the introduction of a break in January. His reasons for wanting the change might be selfish - he has to manage the fatigue suffered by his players as they play over 50 games a season – but England's second-round capitulation in South Africa has added fresh weight to his argument.
The biggest disappointment of the England's World Cup campaign was the form of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, and Ferguson believes that he was unable to fire on full cylinders because of exhaustion from the Premier League season.
The Premier League is the only major European League that doesn't have a winter shutdown, and Ferguson believes that for this reason England's national team will always be at a disadvantage when competing at major tournaments.
"The FA has to give the country the best possible chance of doing well in the World Cup," he said. "But because of the nature of our game, and because of the demands from television to have a programme every week, the idea of a winter break — which I was first talking about 30 years ago in Scotland and have done since I came down to England — nothing has happened about it. They must realise that, going into the World Cup, they [the FA] have handicapped their team.
"The season we have in England is tough. It's a real task to ask players to perform at the best level they can achieve after the season in England."