There's nothing stupid about wanting to be consulted before a game at your own ground is postponed without you being told. Among other things, at the time Everton was one of only a few grounds where 2,000 fans were allowed to attend, so Everton had gone through the routine of opening the arena and having their own players and staff there to prepare, and fans had to be turned away at the gate - fans who had to travel on public transport to get there. But City had time to talk to the FA beforehand. That's unacceptable.Everton have been absolutely stupid on this. Don’t contribute. Be mad at the FA all you want about a lack of consultation, whatever that means, but your club are embarrassing yourselves in this very stupid reaction to a Covid outbreak at another club.
If you think that's stupid and wrong, I don't know what to tell you other than I strongly disagree.
The rules are that you play if you can field 14 players. I think those rules are unreasonable and I favor shutting the whole thing down. If those are the rules, though, then they should be followed. My commentary re: City being able to handle it better than just about any other side is something I believe to be true. ut it's irrelevant for the current analysis so I won't stand on it.There’s no fucking gamesmanship to finding out that additional players are testing positive and not being sure whether playing would just result in more spread to Everton players.
I think it's entirely possible that City or another side might engage in gamesmanship.Your take is awful and wrong. The implication seems to be that City are somehow fearful of Everton and using a Covid outbreak to avoid playing an injured Everton side. You should know by now that I’m not bullish on this City side but the idea that City is seeking some competitive advantage by piling up even more fixtures later is laughable.
Manchester to Liverpool is a one-hour trip. I think it's likely that they travel the night before and stay at a hotel, it's possible they travel day-of. This was an 8 pm start. If they traveled day-of, they must have gathered to leave well before 4 pm, which is roughly when Everton found out that they weren't going to play.
We knew that Walker and Jesus had already tested positive. They are likely testing daily or close to it. They would have tested the day before or the day before that. It's unlikely on these facts that they didn't know that they had an outbreak until a few hours before the game, and even if they did the club hosting the game should have been the first to know, not the last.
So although I can't of course prove wrongdoing, it's consistent with these facts that they might have said "we're banged up anyway, let's just call it off and get some additional rest."
Under no circumstances do I want a team to risk COVID safety. But if a) the 14-player rule is being disregarded and b) the home side is not being consulted, then it can't be ruled out.
I'm not implying anything about City's opinion of Everton, it could be Burnley.