Crystal Palace were reportedly angered after failing in their attempt to get Boxing Day’s visit to Tottenham called off due to coronavirus.
Palace were in discussions with the Premier League on Christmas Day about postponing their trip across the capital following a number of new positive cases, which included boss Patrick Vieira, but it’s understood the league was dissatisfied with the late application.
Former Arsenal midfielder Vieira was not present at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he began a period of self-isolation following his positive result, with assistant manager Osian Roberts taking charge.
Prem clubs are moaning but tough sh*t – play the reserves
Vieira revealed on Christmas Eve that there were a “couple of cases” in the camp, but the increase over the following 48 hours was not deemed enough to see the game cancelled.
The Premier League announced last week that a game will be played if a team has 13 fit outfield players and a goalkeeper.
Both clubs announced the game would go ahead in its scheduled 3pm slot shortly before midday on Boxing Day with Spurs piling on the misery as goals from Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min made it an easy afternoon for the hosts in a 3-0 win.
Palace, who saw Wilfried Zaha needlessly sent off in the first half, only made one change to their starting line-up but fielded a weakened bench with a number of players absent.
And the Daily Mail claims Palace ‘were seething’ over the Premier League’s refusal to accept their plea to postpone the match and ‘has frustrated’ the Premier League club’s staff.
The report added:
‘The club informed the Premier League of the new positive tests within 20 minutes of receiving the results and asked for guidance on whether they had grounds to request a postponement.
‘But because Palace had at least 14 players available, the match could not be called off according to Premier League rules.
‘However, the fact that Vieira had come into close contact with players in training sessions leading up to the game was a big concern to Palace.
‘There were fears about the potential health risk to any unvaccinated players, particularly since Vieira’s result had only come through on Christmas Day evening.
‘However, the Premier League ruled, very strenuously according to sources, that the game should go ahead as planned.
‘They were said to be unsatisfied by Palace’s attempts to call off the game, with the lateness of the communication said to be a key issue.’
After the loss to Tottenham, Crystal Palace assistant manager Osian Roberts said that preparations were not overly affected, despite not meeting up at a team hotel on Christmas Day, but Vieira’s absence was felt.
The Welshman said: “It was late yesterday evening that the results came through. We were all tested.
“The good thing about the way we prepare is that we do that as a collective.
“There was no stone unturned. It would be true to say everything ran like normal, except Patrick not being there as our leader leading things on the day will always be something that we miss because we need him there.
“But we got on with it the best we could. We didn’t want to make any excuses and I thought we started well. The game turned after about half an hour.
“I don’t know how many we had with Covid, some returning from Covid, close contacts, injuries, but ultimately you saw that we were short of options on the bench today.
“We have been focusing football-wise throughout the week. Preparations have gone very well in a football sense.
“The last 24 hours we have been in our bubble just focusing on the game, leaving the other aspects to others at the club. We have tried to get on with it the best we can, but unfortunately we didn’t get what we wanted out of the match.
“We met at the hotel to prepare for the match, most times we would do that on the previous evening. It’s difficult to do that as a bubble these days with some uncertainty. As a coaching staff and players we do as we are told.
“We prepare the best we can and we managed to do that this morning as we would normally before coming to the stadium. We are professional, everybody has to adapt. It is something we had to live with and I am sure there will be other rollercoaster weeks.”
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZvb3RiYWxsMzY1LmNvbS9uZXdzL2NyeXN0YWwtcGFsYWNlLXNlZXRoaW5nLXByZW1pZXItbGVhZ3VlLXJlamVjdC1wbGVhLXNwdXJzLW1hdGNoLWNhbGxlZC1vZmbSAQA?oc=5
2021-12-27 09:42:40Z
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