Premier League told to take action after Tottenham statement – pundit
Alan Hutton has called for the Premier League to “stamp out” unnecessary postponements of games after seeing Tottenham against Arsenal called off.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs defender suggested teams are “playing the system” under the new procedures.
In a statement issued on Saturday (15 January), Tottenham insisted they were “extremely surprised” by the postponement following an application from Arsenal to the Premier League.
Spurs demanded “clarity and consistency” over the application of the process brought in to tackle disruption caused by Covid cases.
As reported by the i newspaper on Sunday (16 January), the Gunners had just one positive Covid case among the squad.
Hutton slammed the call and insisted non-Covid-related absences should not count in the decision-making process.
“Look at Burnley,” Hutton told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“They had 10 players and they’ve got a small squad. When you look at Arsenal, we don’t really know exactly how many players they had but they’ve got a large squad.
“They’ve got a good youth setup. We’ve seen that in the cup runs and things like that.
“It was a game I was looking forward to watching. Some of the first-team members have gone out on loan. How does that make sense?
“You’re trying to tell me that you don’t have enough players to fulfil a fixture you but you can send players on loan? It doesn’t really add up.
“There is a little bit of a grey area and teams are playing it very well. They need to stamp it out. I don’t think it’s fair.
“Yes, there are players at the African Cup of Nations, injuries, Covid situations, but we need to get these games played.
“You can’t be using loopholes to get out of it so you can then meet later and field a stronger team.
“I think we have to get on with it. Everybody is in the same situation going through the same times.
“It has to be solely down to the Covid issue. You can’t be factoring in, when you’ve got such a big squad, two or three injuries. If it is Covid and it has gone through your camp, no problem.”
Tottenham already have two games in hand on most teams around them due to postponements.
Only Burnley have played fewer games (17) in the Premier League this season.
In other news, Tottenham insider slams “bottlers” Arsenal and swipes at what they did to Leeds United.