Robin van Persie has urged the fixture compilers to show more sense after claiming Arsenal have suffered because of a gruelling run of games.
Tuesday's Carling Cup quarter-final defeat by Manchester City was the Gunners' fourth game in 11 days and came just over 72 hours after they dropped two Premier League points against Fulham.
City had even less time to prepare following their 1-1 draw against Liverpool on Sunday, leading boss Roberto Mancini to join Reds manager Kenny Dalglish in condemning the decision to play a cup match two days later.
Van Persie, who was rested against City but will return against Wigan on Saturday, believes greater care should be taken when scheduling matches to ensure players are always at their peak. "We had a tough game at Norwich, while four days later we had an intense game against a very fit Dortmund side," he said.
"A recovery time between Wednesday and Saturday was our shortest for a while. It is not an excuse [for drawing with Fulham] but if you do play Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you perhaps feel five or 10 per cent different than if you had an extra 24 hours.
"We still had our chances to win against Fulham but everyone sensed there was a bit of fatigue somewhere. City had a similar situation on Tuesday, to be fair even worse as they had a tough game at Liverpool on Sunday.
"It is hard to get the fixtures right for every team but I don't understand the scheduling for us or City. These are big games on TV and people expect everyone to be fit and put in an amazing performance.
"At some point, that's not realistic - if you are playing four games in nine days, you'll suffer in the end. Sometimes I feel the fixtures could be decided a little more sensibly."
