Premier League
ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP PLAYERS KICK AGAINST WAGE CUT
The Professional Footballers’ Association, the union representing English Premier League footballers, has warned of a £200 million (S$353 million) shortfall for British government coffers if a sweeping cut in wages is introduced to offset the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
In the past few days, clubs and players’ representatives have been in talks over a combination of pay cuts and deferrals amounting to 30 percent of their annual salary.
However, an agreement has yet to be reached, with the Athletic yesterday reporting that most players will only accept a deferral in wages.
The sports website also said another sticking point is an unwillingness to take on extra media duties.
Clubs have asked their players to fulfil more off-field commitments to give rights holders content in the absence of games – something that they are reluctant to do “out of principle”, especially if wage cuts or deferrals are imposed.
The PFA also feels it is far too simplistic to lambast multi-millionaire footballers for not agreeing to sacrifice their pay.
The proposed 30 per cent salary deduction over a 12-month period equates to over £500 million in wage reductions and a loss in tax contributions of over £200 million to the government.
“What effect does this loss of earning to the government mean for the National Health Service (NHS)?” the PFA said in a statement. “All Premier League players want to, and will, play their part in making significant financial contributions in these unprecedented times.
“We welcomed the opportunity to discuss this with the Premier League and we are happy to continue talks.”
The highly charged issue will continue to take centre stage even as Britain grapples with Covid-19 after Liverpool on Saturday night became the latest club to put some of their non-playing staff on furlough.
The decision by the Premier League leaders, who are just two wins shy of their first English title in 30 years and in February announced pre-tax profits of £42 million in the 2018-19 season, has drawn heavy criticism from former Anfield favourites.
Under the scheme, which Newcastle, Tottenham, Bournemouth and Norwich have already signed up for, the British government will pay 80 per cent of wages, but some of Liverpool’s former stalwarts have been left far from impressed.
“(Manager) Jurgen Klopp showed compassion for all at the start of this pandemic… Then all that respect and goodwill is lost, poor this,” tweeted former defender Jamie Carragher. His former teammate Dietmar Hamann called the decision “contrary to the morals and values of the club”.
“Astonished by the news Liverpool takes advantage of the furlough scheme,” he tweeted. “That’s not what it was designed for.”
While British society debates over Premier League clubs and players not showing enough empathy with the less privileged, Wayne Rooney yesterday stood up for his fellow professionals, insisting they were “easy targets”.
There have been multiple reports of footballers like Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson giving back to society, while England manager Gareth Southgate has also reportedly taken a 30 per cent pay cut.
On helping out the less fortunate, Rooney, the former England captain and Manchester United striker, said he had both the means and will to make financial contributions, but felt the public pressure being exerted on his peers was unhelpful.
“If the government approached me to help support nurses financially or to buy ventilators, I’d be proud to do so – as long as I knew where the money was going,” he wrote in The Times of London.
“I’m in a place where I could give something up. Not every footballer is in the same position… Why are we suddenly the scapegoats?
“How the past few days have played out is a disgrace. In my opinion, it is now a no-win situation.”
Pundit Gary Lineker agreed with Rooney, claiming footballers were being “picked on”. He told the BBC: “Nobody seems to talk about the bankers, the chief executive officers, huge millionaires. Are they standing up? Are they being asked to stand up? We don’t know.”
AFP, Reuters
Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to remain top of the Premier League as Arsenal and Manchester City came from behind to win on Saturday.
City were 3-2 victors over Fulham to stay one point behind Liverpool, alongside Arsenal who saw off Southampton 3-1.
Arne Slot has now won nine of his first 10 games since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager, but was frustrated that the visitors invited a late onslaught from the winless Eagles.
Jota prodded the Reds into the lead from Cody Gakpo’s cross on nine minutes.
The Portuguese international was then guilty of missing two big chances to extend Liverpool’s advantage.
Palace failed to make them pay, but victory came at a cost for Slot as goalkeeper Alisson Becker limped off with a hamstring injury.
“If you score the second you break them mentally,” said Slot. “All the fans kept believing in a result because it was only 1-0, even though in my opinion we were the dominant team.”
Fresh from a dominant win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Arsenal were expected to sweep aside winless Southampton.
But the Saints shocked the Emirates 10 minutes into the second half when Cameron Archer fired in his first Premier League goal since a summer move from Aston Villa.
The lead only lasted three minutes before Kai Havertz scored for the seventh consecutive home game.
Gabriel Martinelli was introduced after an hour and took just eight minutes to make his mark with a finish on the volley from Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having set up Arsenal’s first two goals, Saka pounced on a loose ball to score the third himself.
Fulham’s outrageous opener
Rodri’s season-long absence due to a serious knee injury is expected to be a major blow to City’s chances of retaining the title for a fifth consecutive season.
But it was the Spaniard’s deputy Mateo Kovacic who scored twice to turn the game around for the champions at the Etihad.
The visitors had not lost since the opening night of the season at Manchester United and led thanks to Andreas Pereira’s finish from an outrageous backheel assist by Raul Jimenez.
Kovacic’s deflected effort quickly brought City level before a cleaner strike less than two minutes into the second half made it 2-1.
Jeremy Doku then smashed into the top corner from outside the box to give City a two-goal cushion, which they needed.
Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham hope on 88 minutes, but City held out for a 17th consecutive win against the Cottagers.
West Ham eased the pressure on new boss Julen Lopetegui by ending a run of three home defeats to start the new season.
Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta struck for the Hammers in a 4-1 win over Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first Premier League win 22 years.
There were six goals before half-time as Brentford beat Wolves 5-3 to leave the visitors still rooted to the foot of the table.
Leicester secured their first league win of the season as Facundo Buonanotte’s strike beat Bournemouth 1-0.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge match if he is to remain in charge when the Red Devils visit Aston Villa in the pick of Sunday’s action.
-AFP
Premier League
Premier League rejects City request to delay next season’s games after Club World Cup
The Premier League has rejected Manchester City’s request to postpone the first two games of the 2025-26 season to help the players recover after their FIFA Club World Cup campaign in the U.S., the club’s manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
City and Chelsea are the two English clubs who have qualified for the expanded month-long Club World Cup set to start on June 15. The Premier League’s season will begin in August.
An increasingly packed soccer calendar has been a concern among a growing number of players and managers. A report by global players’ union FIFPRO said some players get only 12% of the year to rest.
The Premier League did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
City midfielder Rodri said in September that players could be close to strike action over the time they are required to play. A knee ligament injury has since put him out for the season.
“I don’t know if we will play more games than the treble year (2022-23)… maybe we’ll play less games,” Guardiola told reporters.
“The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery. Thank you so much. They don’t postpone these games so that will be the moment of, oh, what do we have to do?”
He said the Club World Cup will make it even more difficult for clubs to manage player workload.
-Reuters
Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said a decision about under-fire manager Erik ten Hag is not his call, and was reticent about whether he still has faith in the team’s boss amid their worst start to the Premier League season since 1986-87.
“I don’t want to answer that question,” Ratcliffe told the BBC. “I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“That team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April — Omar (Berrada, CEO), (Sporting Director) Dan Ashworth — they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there . . . you can count it in weeks almost — they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Ten Hag’s job was the subject of speculation for much of last season en route to the team’s lowest Premier League finish of eighth. After an FA Cup final victory over Manchester City and an end-of-season review, however, Ten Hag signed a new contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford until 2026.
“Our objective is very clear, we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously, that’s very clear,” Ratcliffe said.
Ten Hag continues to plead for patience from fans with the team languishing 13th in the Premier League table, having lost three of their six opening games. They were headed towards defeat by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before Harry Maguire scored a last-gasp goal to salvage a 3-3 draw.
-Reuters
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