Calls to pause season after 18 players and staff test positive

The COVID-19 situation has grown worse in the English Premier League, with leading figures calling for a break in the season.

The last thing I need is to get COVID-19, says West Brom’s Sam Allardyce

The COVID-19 situation has grown worse in the English Premier League, with further games threatened with postponement and some leading figures calling for a break in the season.

Manchester City’s game against Everton has already been called off this week and positive tests at Fulham mean their match away to Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night is in doubt.

The Premier League said early on Wednesday 18 players or staff had tested positive — its highest weekly figure since testing began in May — and it will now double the rate of testing to twice a week.

West Bromwich Albion manager Sam Allardyce suggested there should be a “circuit breaker” pause in the season and his Sheffield United counterpart Chris Wilder said his team were only one positive test away from having to call off their game against Burnley.

Allardyce, whose new team lost 5-0 at home to Leeds United, said: “Everyone’s safety is more important than anything and when I hear the variant virus transmits 70 per cent quicker we can only do the right thing, which would be to have a circuit breaker.

“I’m 66 and last thing I need to do is catch COVID. Probably players will overcome it, but it’s more difficult for someone like me, so I’m very concerned for myself and football in general. We had one positive this week — it seems to be creeping around no matter how hard we try. If that (a break) helps let’s do it and let the season run a little longer when we get through it.”

The idea of a break has been discussed informally in talks between individual chairmen, but no proposal has been put to the Premier League.

Most clubs are likely to be resistant to a break, unless the situation significantly worsens, as there is already heavy fixture congestion and the domestic season would run into the delayed Euro 2020 if it was significantly lengthened.

In further developments:

• Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was unable to attend his side’s goalless draw with West Ham United after a member of his household tested positive

• Manchester City ramped up their testing as their fixture with Chelsea on Sunday remained in doubt

• The club doctor at Rochdale cast doubt on whether football should be played amid rising cases across the UK.

Fulham are awaiting further test results that will determine if their game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium can go ahead. Scott Parker, the Fulham manager, who was unable to attend his team’s match against Southampton on Boxing Day after a member of his household tested positive, is preparing for the game as normal in expectation of being able to field a team and substitutes. Fulham are also due to face Burnley in the midday kick-off on Sunday.

Wilder, whose team lost 1-0 away to Burnley early on Wednesday, said one of his players had been for a test before the game. The Sheffield United manager said the player “was showing signs” and had been in contact with enough players that it would have “wiped the team out”.

“I know the Premier League are doing their best, we will do our best as a football club to keep going,” Wilder said. “Nobody is looking for an exit, nobody is looking for the season to be canned. But all the numbers suggest it’s peaking or getting worse.”

The Premier League is to roll out increased testing among all clubs from January. While all top-flight sides in Tier 4 of the government’s restrictions are tested every 72 hours, the plan is to bring in twice-weekly procedures across the board.

City successfully applied to the Premier League board on Monday to have their match away to Everton postponed. They fear their players contracted the mutant COVID-19 variant, which has been prevalent in London and the south of England, when they played their Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal last week. The Arsenal defender Gabriel has also since tested positive.

City’s squad will undergo four tests in the space of seven days. If more players test positive, their training facility will remain closed and Sunday’s match away to Chelsea will be in doubt.

The decision to postpone the Everton game was taken by the Premier League’s board, whose members believed that they had no option but to follow the independent medical advice.

That medical opinion stressed that Everton’s bubble could also be put at risk by playing the match.

The financial implications of regular testing at EFL clubs mean that players are tested when showing coronavirus symptoms. There is strategic testing throughout the season, with the next round of tests scheduled for the week commencing January 4.

The Rochdale team doctor Wesley Tensel has cast doubt on whether football should be continuing at all. The League One side called off both their forthcoming games due to an outbreak in the camp.

Tensel told BBC Radio 5 Live: “These players are human like everyone else and it sometimes begs the question, should the season still be going on? In the middle of a pandemic where people can’t travel but footballers are able to go in and out, take things back to the family, it’s probably not the wisest thing.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United are recreating the habit of late winners that could lead to an unexpected Premier League title challenge, according to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Marcus Rashford’s deflected strike deep into stoppage time beat Wolves 1-0 on Tuesday to move United up to second and within two points of leaders Liverpool.

After come from behind wins at Brighton and Southampton already this season, United have now won three of their first 15 games of the season in added time, a trait Solskjaer knows well from his playing career at Old Trafford under Alex Ferguson.

The Times