Battling Barnsley frustrate
Ismaël on Oakwell return
West Bromwich Albion failed to move
level on points with second-placed
Bournemouth in the Sky Bet
Championship after a 0-0 draw away
to Barnsley at Oakwell last night
(Jason Mellor writes).
Albion had plenty of chances but
Valérien Ismaël, their head coach, was
left frustrated on his return to the
club he left in the summer. Cédric
Kipré’s header came back off a post
early on, while Callum Brittain
blocked Jordan Hugill’s effort from a
Conor Townsend cut-back and
Michal Helik’s clearance denied
Karlan Grant in the second half.
Molly Hudsonthen, for me, that’s mandatory. Obvi-
ously some people see that [view] differ-
ently. I’m 54 years old and I am really a
big believer that you can convince
people to do the right things. But I’m
not sure in this specific case. England is
in a much better place vaccination-wise
than Germany is, for example.
“And it is unbelievable how
aggressive the antivax scene is and how
clear they are with all the things.
They obviously know better than the
rest of us. It is really tricky. No, I don’t
think it should be mandatory but
morally, yes.”
Klopp’s side are preparing to face
Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow despite
Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis
Jones having registered suspected
positive test results on Thursday.
In total, 24 of the 44 matches due to
take place in the top four divisions this
weekend have been postponed: five of
the ten Premier League fixtures, five of
the ten in the Sky Bet Championship,
six of the 12 in League One and eight of
the 12 in League Two. With only two
Premier League games taking place
tomorrow, the BBC’s Match of the Day
has been cut from 80 minutes to 35.
Nigel Huddleston, the sports minis-
ter, has echoed Klopp in urging
footballers who do not intend to be vac-
cinated to get the jab, arguing that they
have a social responsibility to do so.
“I recognise that some people can’t
get vaccinated, but we all need to
encourage those who aren’t vaccinated
to overcome their reluctance,”
Huddleston told the BBC.
“The most important thing anyone
— including footballers — can do to
protect themselves, co-workers and
loved ones is to get vaccinated and get
a booster. Getting the jab is the socially
responsible thing to do. Many
footballers and sports stars have used
their profile and social media to
encourage people to get vaccinated. I
am very grateful to them, they can
reach people that ministers can’t.”
The Times reported this week that
the Premier League believes that
unvaccinated players are causing
disproportionate disruption to matches
because they have to isolate after
coming into contact with a Covid case.
Government rules mean anyone
who is unvaccinated must self-isolate
after being deemed a contact, but those
who have been double-jabbed are not
obliged to do so.
For those clubs where a significant
percentage of players remain unvacci-
nated, that has become a big problem
and has contributed to some of the
matches being called off.
A number of clubs have been forced
to shut their training grounds, but the
EFL chairman, Rick Parry, said there is
“zero evidence” that imposing a break
on fixtures this weekend would protect
the Christmas programme.
Parry told The Times: “If we thought
that a break this weekend would
actually work and save the Christmas
programme then we might do it, but
there is zero evidence to suggest that it
would make any difference at this
point in time.
“It might be different next week or at
a point in the future, depending on
what is happening in the country, but
there is nothing at the moment to say
that if we did call everything off for the
weekend then we would save [the]
Boxing Day [fixtures].”Manchester United, whose two
games this week, away to Brentford on
Tuesday and at home to Brighton &
Hove Albion today, were postponed are
understood to have only seven players
available.
Pep Guardiola was forced to cancel
his press conference yesterday after re-
turning an “inconclusive” Covid-19 test.
However, the Manchester City manag-
er later tested negative and will be in the
dugout for the trip to Newcastle United
tomorrow. Guardiola, 50, managed
City in their record-breaking 7-0 win
over Leeds United on Tuesday and flew
to Barcelona the next morning to
attend the retirement ceremony of his
former player Sergio Agüero.
Bruno Lage, the Wolverhampton
Wanderers head coach, confirmed that
Fábio Silva and Yerson Mosquera had
tested positive. They are due to playChelsea at Molineux tomorrow, with
Thomas Tuchel’s side missing five
players who are isolating.
Two Women’s Super League matches
scheduled for tomorrow have been
postponed — Manchester City v Read-
ing and West Ham United v Chelsea.
Emma Hayes’s side returned several
positive tests after returning home
from their Champions League defeat
by Wolfsburg in Germany on Thursday.
Hayes, the Chelsea manager, had
warned after their 4-0 defeat that an
outbreak was likely, after Ann-Katrin
Berger and Drew Spence had tested
positive before travelling to Germany.
“A few days ago, we had two players
struck down with Covid and we know,
inevitably, when we land tomorrow,
there will be positive cases,” Hayes had
said. “Our heads are all over the place.
We are human beings.”the times | Saturday December 18 2021 2GS 7
Football Sport
‘No evidence’ to suggest break
would salvage festive fixtures
Klopp’s side are missing three players through Covid but beat Newcastle on Thursday and are set to face Spurs tomorrowPETER BYRNE/PAAubameyang
exiled and
‘unavailable’
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is
training on his own at Arsenal as Mikel
Arteta continues to describe him as
“unavailable” for selection before
tonight’s match away to Leeds United.
It is understood that the decision for
the striker, who has missed Arsenal’s
past two matches, to train separately
was a mutual one, and it is likely to
remain that way until he departs for the
Africa Cup of Nations, in which he will
play for Gabon next month.
Aubameyang was informed that he
would no longer be the Arsenal captain
by Arteta on Monday, after the 32-year-
old’s disciplinary problems were made
public for the second time this year.
Aubameyang, the club’s highest earner
on up to £350,000 a week, failed to
report back on time from a trip abroad
last week to visit his mother, who has
been ill. He had also been left out of the
derby with Tottenham Hotspur in
March for arriving late.
“No, he is not available for selection,”
Arteta, the manager said. When asked
about his long-term future, he added:
“For this game he is not available for se-
lection. Things happened really quickly
last week when we had unfortunately
to make that decision, and this is where
we are standing today.”
Arteta said he would only be com-
fortable with his players going to the
Cup of Nations, due to take place in
Cameroon from January 9 to February
6, if their welfare could be guaranteed.
The European Club Association this
week wrote to Fifa, saying the emer-
gence of the new Covid variant meant
that the tournament’s release dates
were “unmanageable”.
Captaincy role expanding, Alyson Rudd,
page 11Paul JoyceNo crowd for
England v Italy
England’s Uefa Nations League game
with Italy on June 11 will be played
behind closed doors as the punishment
for trouble at the Euro 2020 final
between the teams kicks in.
Gareth Southgate’s side will also play
without a crowd in their opening
match, away to Hungary, on June 4.
The Hungarian FA was handed a three-
match ban, with the third game sus-
pended, after trouble at the Puskas
Arena in the tournament last summer.
The English FA received a one-game
ban, suspended for another match,
after hundreds of ticketless yobs forced
their way into Wembley for the final in
July. It is a blow to the FA, who would
have been guaranteed a sell-out at
Wembley against the Italians.
Meanwhile Uefa is in talks with the
South American federation, Conme-
bol, over an expanded Nations League
that would include the likes of Brazil
and Argentina. The Uefa vice-presi-
dent, Zbigniew Boniek, said yesterday
that ten South American teams would
be added to the competition from 2024.
6 Christian Eriksen, who suffered a
cardiac arrest while playing for Den-
mark at Euro 2020, has left Inter Milan
by mutual consent. Serie A rules would
not allow the 29-year-old to play as he
has been fitted with an implantable
cardioverter defibrillator device.CONTINUED FROM FRONT
Premier League: 5/10 games off
Manchester United v Brighton &
Hove Albion
Southampton v Brentford
Watford v Crystal Palace
West Ham United v Norwich
Everton v Leicester CityChampionship: 5/10 games off
Cardiff City v Derby County
Coventry City v Stoke City
Millwall v Preston
QPR v Swansea City
Reading v Luton TownLeague One: 6/12 games off
AFC Wimbledon v Portsmouth
Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe
Wanderers
Burton Albion v MK Dons
Gillingham v Crewe Alexandra
Lincoln City v Doncaster Rovers
Sheffield Wednesday v Accrington
StanleyLeague Two: 8/12 games off
Carlisle United v Bradford City
Colchester United v Hartlepool
United
Crawley Town v Oldham Athletic
Forest Green Rovers v Mansfield
To w n
Northampton Town v Barrow
Port Vale v Exeter City
Scunthorpe United v Bristol Rovers
Swindon Town v WalsallMatches called off
Spurs use mannequins in training
Antonio Conte had to resort to using
mannequins in training because of the
lack of fit players in his squad as they
prepared to face Liverpool at the
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tomor-
row afternoon.
The Tottenham head coach has not
been able to work properly with his
Covid-hit squad who will be playing
their first competitive match for two
weeks if the Premier League game goes
ahead.
Spurs were forced to close their train-
ing ground after nine players tested
positive for Covid, along with several
staff and under-23 players. “For threedays we didn’t have a training session
and then we had a training session with
only 10, 12 players,” Conte said. “It
wasn’t easy to face this situation and to
train the players.
“Usually, if you want to try a forma-
tion, you need 20 players and it’s not
simple to do this. You have to train with
mannequins and I stopped. It’s not easy.
It’s not the same.”
Tottenham have had Premier
League games against Brighton & Hove
Albion and Leicester City postponed,
while their Europa Conference League
clash with the French club Rennes was
also called off. As yet that match has notbeen rescheduled and Spurs may have
to forfeit the game as they face a back-
log of postponed matches.
Conte is proceeding with caution as
although only two players are now side-
lined by the virus, the other members of
his squad are far from match ready
having not trained. “You have to pay
great attention,” the Italian coach said.
“You can’t give them the same amount
of work as other players.
“If you want everything too soon, you
risk injuries. In this situation, you have
to take the risk and, at the same time,
pay great attention. They need time to
be fit.”