Netease Sports, November 15th report: From January 10th to 31st next year, the Africa Cup of Nations will kick off. For many Premier League clubs, the biennial Africa Cup is a severe test - with an influx of African players into the Premier League, the vacancies left behind after they return home to participate in the tournament have become increasingly serious. Who let the Premier League not have a winter break... The Premier League is "dismembered" by the Africa Cup. Next year's Africa Cup, Chelsea, currently leading the league table, will be the hardest hit area. Essien, Drogba, Mikel and Kalou will all head to Angola to compete at that time — this is no less than taking away half of the midfield and forward line of the Blues. In the eyes of many African players, the importance of national team games goes without saying. Drogba, captain of the Ivory Coast national team, naturally doesn't need to say much, and Essien, the core midfielder of Ghana, has also recently expressed his love for the national team. "I am happy to play for the national team," Essien said, "I am now looking forward to the Africa Cup and hope we can achieve good results." During the Africa Cup, they will miss four rounds of the league, plus the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup. Looking around the Premier League, Chelsea isn't the club suffering the most losses. Portsmouth and Hull City, who are struggling for relegation, will then be missing six and four players respectively. To count teams that haven't been affected by the Africa Cup, there are probably only Manchester United, Liverpool, and Birmingham. And like Manchester City, they will also lose Adebayor and Kolo Toure, while Arsenal will lose Eboue... Regarding the fact that their participation in the national team affects their club, Essien himself also expressed helplessness, "Since we cannot change it, we can only accept reality and focus on playing for the country. Once the Africa Cup is over, we will return to the club as soon as possible to fulfill our contracts."
The absence caused by the Africa Cup, how much impact will it have on the team? This is hard to say. Taking the previous Africa Cup as an example, Chelsea was similarly broken up at that time, yet achieved full victories during the period, walking out a nine-game winning streak. The then coach, now technical director of Portsmouth, Avram Grant recalled the situation in 2008, frankly stating that trust in the team was the most important thing. "As early as (November 2007), the media asked what players I would add in the January transfer window," Grant said, "I decided from day one to trust the whole team, and we set a record with nine consecutive wins." The Israeli believed that adding key players in January was not a good idea, as it would somewhat disrupt the deployment made at the start of the season, "You should plan for player injuries and other situations when the season starts."
According to FIFA regulations, national teams can call up players seven days before major tournaments. Counting the three weeks of the Africa Cup, players may be absent for as long as a month. And in Grant's view, the impact of the Africa Cup extends far beyond the time the players are away from England. "When the players return to England, you will face another problem," Grant emphasized, "They need one to two weeks to readjust to the environment. Remember, in January, the weather in Africa is very hot, but in England, it is abnormally cold." After completing the nine-game winning streak, Grant's Chelsea was held to a draw by Portsmouth at Fratton Park in early February.
Is Pompey just waiting to die?
Of course, the impact of next year's Africa Cup on Chelsea should not be significant. According to the schedule, the Blues will encounter Hull City, Sunderland, Birmingham, and Burnley during that period, with relatively less pressure. However, for Portsmouth, January next year may directly affect their survival in the league.
Kanu, Utaka, Dingane, Jebda, Belhadj, and Boatehn all need to return home to participate in the competition, making it difficult for Portsmouth to even gather a complete lineup - the team has only 22 registered first-team players. Want to buy people to survive? There’s still debt on the books. Due to unpaid transfer fees for Glen Johnson purchased from Chelsea in 2007 and Diarra from Arsenal in 2008, the Pompey Club is banned from buying players. The previous owner Gaydamak left Farraj with a debt of 43 million pounds.
Now, Chairman Fasim can only pin his hopes on new owner Farraj. If this Middle Eastern tycoon can quickly repay the debt, perhaps he can bring in a few new players during the winter transfer window, thus using the opportunity when other teams deal with player absences to add weight to the fight against relegation, "I believe the new owner will bring us four or five players, and at the same time, this is also an opportunity for young team players to showcase their talents, they can take the chance to occupy positions in the first team."
Actually, Portsmouth isn't the worst off. Because during the Africa Cup, they will face Fulham, Birmingham, West Ham, and Manchester City in the Premier League. In comparison, Hull City, which will be missing four players, has it harder, as their opponents will be Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, and Wolverhampton...
How about rescheduling the Africa Cup?
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