Should the North London derby have been postponed?

NLD


By Oli Dickson Jefford


The announcement that Sunday's crunch North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham had been called off did not come as a surprise.

It follows almost a month of similar disruption and postponements that have impacted almost every club in the Premier League, with Spurs one of the first majorly affected a few weeks back.

However, this latest postponement has caused some controversy, with Arsenal currently having only one Covid case in their camp.

With accusations that clubs are exploiting the system in place simply to avoid matches when they are dealing with injury issues and AFCON absences, there are questions as to whether this match should have been delayed.



Arsenal’s issue

Arsenal’s problem is that they do not have the 13 outfield players and one goalkeeper that guarantees that a match will go ahead in any circumstances.

It’s thought that Mikel Arteta currently has only 12 outfield players at his disposal, with the main issue coming with his midfield.

Martin Odegaard is the player currently isolating with covid, while Granit Xhaka is suspended after his EFL Cup red against Liverpool and both Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Elsewhere, there are also injuries doubts over the likes of Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Cedric Soares and Calum Chambers adding to their troubles.

Saka Arteta


Should the match have been called off?

There is little doubt that Arsenal are struggling, but the reason for the postponement is questionable.

Such postponements are only meant to take place because of Covid, and Odegaard is the only player currently isolating with the virus.

If Arsenal had this injury pile-up at any time without the pandemic they would still be made to play, and some believe it is unfair to Tottenham that this match has been delayed.

Arsenal and Arteta have plenty of youth players they could have drawn from to play, providing some much needed first-team experience that these players could benefit from in the future.

There is also the argument that Xhaka’s absence is rather self-inflicted, while recent loan moves are another reason why the squad is so depleted.

Folarin Balogun’s loan to Middlesbrough and Ainsley Maitland-Niles loan to Roma were both completed this week; to some, these moves look rather unnecessary and costly now.

But it is easy to see why Arsenal have done this, with other clubs also having games postponed due to similar issues.

Liverpool themselves have faced criticism for the delay to their EFL Cup semi-final against the Gunners, though Arsenal are now facing similar criticism.

Arsenal should not be the focus of the blame, however; they are merely using the Premier League rules to their advantage, just like any club would do.

Maybe these rules need to be tightened as there is certainly merit to the argument that this match should not have been allowed to be postponed.

One Covid case probably shouldn't be enough to postpone a match, especially considering the present backlog that is already causing a nightmare for clubs and the Premier League.

Teams should be made to recall players from loan and bring in younger players when injuries are the main concern, just as they would have without question this time two years ago.


If the Premier League wants normality back, this is an issue that needs to be addressed quickly.


Photo Credit: Getty Images

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