Kevin Phillips is unimpressed that Arsenal’s match against Wolves has been postponed as Premier League fixtures continue to pile up.
The Gunners had announced via Twitter that their game against Wolves has been postponed because there are several covid-19 cases in the camp of the West Midlands club.
That isn’t the first game called off for a similar reason and we expect many more to follow suit.
However, former Sunderland man, Phillips doesn’t think it makes sense for the EPL to keep postponing matches, especially because there is hardly space to reschedule these games.
He argues that clubs should instead be made to field their youngsters who are being paid and trained.
“Everyone is going to have their opinion on this.” He tells Football Insider.
“The last thing we want is a fixture pile-up or a massive backlog of games in the New Year.
“You become a professional footballer to play football. If you’ve got professionals at the club on a contract, enough to put on the pitch, you should play the game.
“Of course, people need to isolate. If you’ve got 18-year-old’s available – it doesn’t even matter if it’s five on the pitch – then you should play.
“What’s the point in them signing professional contracts or having them at the club if they’re not going to play? This is an opportunity to play them, through the circumstances.
“If you make that rule for everyone then games shouldn’t be called off. Every club should have 20 or 30 professionals at the club.
“You can’t keep postponing games.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Phillips has a good point. Some clubs have fulfilled their fixtures by giving first-team chances to youngsters.
That should be the case for every club in the competition, as we all desperately try to avoid a fixture pile-up.
Next year, the FA Cup joins the list of competitions English clubs will compete in, and there would be more games on the international front.
It is hard to predict when these games could be played, and the earlier we stop calling off matches, the better for everyone.
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