Premier League
Some English clubs may consider vaccine status of transfer targets
Some Premier League clubs could take into account the vaccine status of potential signings when they look to bolster their squadsin the January transfer window as rising COVID-19 cases raise fears of a rash of postponed games.
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard and his Crystal Palace counterpart Patrick Vieira both said on Tuesday that vaccine status might be a consideration in the decision-making process.
The Premier League announced on Monday it was re-introducing “emergency measures” after a record 42 cases of COVID-19 among players and staff at clubs over the past week, shortly before Manchester United’s game at Brentford was called off due to an outbreak at the Old Trafford club.
Gerrard, whose side also have had players and staff test positive this week, told British media on Monday that Villa’s thorough recruitment process meant vaccine status could be considered when they speak to potential recruits.
“We look at everything. So I’m sure it will come up,” said Gerrard, whose side visit Norwich City later on Tuesday.
“But we’ll obviously make decisions as and when we decide a certain person is the one who could come in and make us better.
“But I don’t think it’s right for me to comment on if I would or wouldn’t in that situation. But it would certainly come into conversations in the background.”
Palace manager Vieira said clubs needed to find ‘solutions’ and that the prospect of having a non-vaccinated player missing for 10 days because of COVID-19 isolation rules, could be a consideration in new signings.
“But I don’t think that would be the final call on whether to sign a player or not,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
England’s top-flight is in the midst of its busiest time of the season, with teams involved in the League Cup playing at least twice a week until the first week of January and further cancellations could leave an unwelcome fixture pile-up.
GAMES POSTPONED
United’s match against Brentford was the second to be postponed this season due to COVID-19 after Tottenham Hotspur’s game at Brighton & Hove Albion over the weekend was called off.
Tottenham’s outbreak meant their UEFA Conference League clash at home to Stade Rennais last week was also called off.
Leicester City, Brighton, Norwich City and Villa have also reported cases as the new Omicron variant takes hold in Britain.
Clubs have been enjoying full stadiums again this season after playing virtually the whole of last term and part of the campaign before that in front of empty or restricted capacity stands following the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
The festive period is traditionally a soccer feast for fans in Britain, with broadcaster Sky Sports trailing its coverage with the slogan “Christmas is for Football”.
But rising COVID-19 infections are threatening to put a dampener on the hectic holiday programme, raising fears of a return to restricted attendances or even empty stadiums as seen in Germany and the Netherlands.
From Wednesday, fans will need to show proof of double vaccination under England’s “Plan B” of measures to slow the spread of the Omicron variant that are being voted on by legislators on Tuesday.
The Premier League, desperate to avoid a flurry of postponements, has ramped up its COVID-19 requirements for clubs, including daily testing, face coverings to be worn inside and stricter social distancing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that all adults will be offered a vaccine booster by the end of the month as concerns grow over the spread of Omicron.
Professional football has lagged behind in the take-up of COVOD-19 vaccines, with the Premier League releasing figures in October showing that 68% of its players were double-jabbed.
Addressing the situation in October, England manager Gareth Southgate said some young players were “more open to conspiracy theories” about vaccines.
-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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