Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall has criticised a “lack of transparency” around postponements in the Women’s Super League after half of this weekend’s top-flight fixtures were called off because of Covid-19 cases.
Eidevall’s league leaders travel to bottom side Birmingham on Sunday in one of just three games to survive, with 40 positive cases recorded across the WSL and Women’s Championship in the past week. Friday night’s London derby between Chelsea and Tottenham was the first to fall, while Saturday’s meeting of Aston Villa and Everton and Sunday’s visit of Manchester United to West Ham called off too.
“We want to play football matches, I take a real pride in playing matches,” Eidevall said. “Every team has injuries or maybe illness but right now there’s very little transparency about that. It should be extreme conditions, if you don’t play a football game.
“I do find it very weird that [teams] can’t play, because we all have big squads and young players in the academy. It’s also important to [help] players not be ill, so you can have many different protocols in place, you can be really consistent with your testing and social distancing, and having digital meetings instead of physical meetings and so on, to minimise the risk.
“I understand there might be some situations where it’s so extreme in the pandemic where you can’t play, but then you have to be really transparent about that, and ask, have you done everything in your power to try and play?”
Eidevall was unhappy that his side’s previous fixture prior to the scheduled Christmas break, against Brighton on 18 December, was called off, adding: “I still don’t know why the game was not on. You don’t get any transparency from anyone saying which players are available or not available, you just get the message from the FA that the game will be postponed.
“And for example, if you have a club where you don’t have double-vaccinated players, those players would be deemed as a close contact, if you have a Covid case, and that would mean that you have a lot of players unavailable, but if you have another club who have all of their players double-vaccinated so they wouldn’t be deemed as a close contact if you get a Covid case, I’m asking the question: Which club should be punished for not being able to play?
“Postponing a game [from before Christmas] into a period when we are losing players to the Asia Cup and into a transfer window period where they can register new players to play in that game who weren’t eligible for the original game, is that fair?”
Arsenal will be without their Australia trio of forward Caitlin Foord, full-back Steph Catley and goalkeeper Lydia Williams at St Andrew’s, as the Matildas prepare for Asia’s equivalent of the Women’s Euros, which begins on 20 January. Despite their absence, unbeaten Arsenal will remain heavy favourites to beat winless Birmingham, who have not enjoyed a WSL victory in nearly 14 months.
Last time out, a defeat at the King Power Stadium saw Birmingham slip below relegation rivals Leicester, who travel to in-form Reading on Sunday, bidding to end a run of five straight away WSL losses. The day’s midday kick-off will see fifth-placed Brighton host sixth-placed Manchester City, who won 7-1 away against the Sussex club 12 months ago but have struggled with injuries this term.
Gareth Taylor’s team have been given a boost with the returns of captain Steph Houghton and right-back Lucy Bronze to first-team training after lengthy spells on the sidelines, while England winger Lauren Hemp has signed a two-year contract extension until 2024, on which Taylor commented: “Lauren is a huge talent, she’s proven that with the accolade she’s received and this is a really positive step for us as a club.”
