If something so detrimental to fans and smaller clubs is to be introduced, the case for it should at least be made first.

Normally on this blog, if a serious discussion came up, I would look at a number of different options and suggest a potential solution. But a winter break in English football is not a serious discussion. In fact it is so laughable it shouldn’t be discussed for more than five minutes.

Yet it is being discussed, and the reason it is being discussed is it serves the interests of the people at the top of the game so well.

In case you missed it, the FA are leading discussions with the Premier League to scrap FA Cup replays and play some rounds of the competition in midweek in order to provide for a winter break.

The biggest clubs in the country would love to believe that the reason they don’t win European trophies is because there are too many games. And if a winter break could help them play less matches of limited revenue like FA Cup replays then all the better.

But why would the FA, the guardian of the national game, even consider going along with this? Well, the reason they are not just considering it but are one of the driving forces behind making it happen is partly to keep the Premier League happy and partly to hide their own incompetence.

Can anyone seriously believe the England team is performing so poorly at tournaments simply because there is no winter break? Maybe that could have been half an excuse when the so-called ‘golden generation’ failed to make it past the quarter finals of the World Cup, but today’s English players just are not good enough. And it’s very difficult to see where cutting fixtures from the calendar, and thereby reducing the opportunities for English youngsters to play in place of other tired first teamers, is supposed to improve the national team.

It also seems strange that nobody has stopped to scrutinise this myth of a winter break bringing success. Germany has a month long winter break and an 18-team league, but it is an uncompetitive league with just one team that can deliver in Europe. Italy has a two week break and no Italian team has won a European title since Jose Mourinho’s Inter in 2010. Chelsea have won both the Champions League and Europa League since then.

Why is it so hard to admit that English clubs are not at a disadvantage in Europe due to the lack of a winter break? If this ever was the case then it would have been impossible for Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea to all win the Champions League since the turn of the millennium. The reality is there is just not the same calibre of player at England’s top clubs as at Barcelona and Real Madrid at the moment.

Speaking of Spain’s top clubs, Barcelona have been playing midweek games every week since the last international break in November and will continue to do so until the end of the season, if they are to win another treble. Even if you take into account that a week of that time was dedicated to the World Club Cup, they would have only had a ten day winter break.

Can football’s authorities and professional managers seriously think that a ten day break makes a difference? If the answer is yes, then managers are welcome to use the FA Cup as their winter break, just as Jurgen Klopp has done. They can put out the youngsters, earn the scorn of most of the country’s football fans and ultimately get knocked out early, but nobody can stop them.

Surely this kind of self-imposed winter break is better than attempting to ruin the game for millions of fans and smaller clubs for whom the FA Cup is their lifeblood. After all, didn’t Liverpool’s reserves play out a 2-2 draw at Exeter earlier in the season? And wasn’t the capacity crowd happy with the entertainment on offer even though the main Liverpool team was rested?

Yes, it is crucial to keep getting the best foreign players and managers to come to this country, but the last thing anyone wants is a manufactured competition to ensure the top brands perform better. And as for the FA’s position, maybe it is a bit of a stretch to call them Quislings, but they are certainly not acting within the interests of the English game.