Should the 2019/20 Premier League Season be voided?
As we are all aware, the current situation is preventing the football season from being completed and in this blog I want to discuss my views on whether the season is able to resume or if it should be voided.
Is it safe?
The first thoughts in everybody’s mind when answering this question is safety. This is by far the most important aspect to consider, as even though we all love football, peoples wellbeing comes before any sport and is something that cannot be compromised. At this moment in time, it doesn’t seem as though it would be wise to resume the fixtures as we are still having many more confirmed cases each day, even though we have been in lockdown for over a month, however when we start to see the effects of this with deaths and confirmed cases coming down perhaps then we can start to think about completing the season. A few dates have been suggested such as 8th June which is about 6 weeks away and in my opinion a possibility as long as we start to see some improvements between now and then.
Multiple theories have been going around social media about the best way to ensure it is safe for the players, staff and everyone else involved such as cameramen. The safest idea, in my opinion, would be to do a “World Cup” style ending in which the remaining 92 games are played in 5 weeks averaging at about 3 games a week for every club. All matches would be played in one area of the country for example London or Manchester where there are many stadiums, with a dedicated team of cleaners to ensure they have been deep cleaned before every fixture. It would also include all players, managers and staff staying in the same hotel and being quarantined together so they are able to train and prepare for matches and as a result players being away from their families in order to not put them at unnecessary risk. Then before each game, everyone involved from players to cameramen are tested for Coronavirus to ensure they do not have it and if they do, unfortunately they will not be able to attend and will have to self isolate as you usually would. Of course every game would be behind closed doors as you cannot risk having thousands of people in the same place as it could cause a second wave of the virus. This is just a rough idea of how the system could work and even stricter rules would probably be put in place, which is a difficult task to pull off.
What happens with players out of contract?
Teams will argue that any players who are out of contract this summer will need to stay until the current seasons is finished, however multiple agents have come out and said that there is no legal obligation for their clients to stay beyond the contract agreement. This could cause major upset within most teams as certain squads will become even smaller, therefore enhancing chances of injury and fatigue with so many fixtures due to be played. Not only this, but players could refuse to play due to safety concerns and would only add to the already tense atmosphere between club hierarchy and their players. It just seems as if there are too many complications to get the season completed without it having to run over into the next one, especially without compromising the safety of everyone involved.
Will players suffer from burnout?
A real problem which players will face is the possibility of burning out, many world class players have suffered from this and ended up being a shadow of their former selves, more recently Alexis Sanchez who after two years without a break now cannot regain full fitness as a result of his body not being able to cope. Due to current circumstances, it could mean this season runs straight into the 2020/21 campaign followed by the Euro’s in the summer of 2021, then the 2021/22 season would continue onto the World Cup in late 2022. Resulting in players not having a break for around 2 years which may see multiple different cases of footballers being unable to cope with the demands put on their bodies. I believe it would require some careful planning to make sure this doesn’t happen, however I have no idea how this would be possible to adapt.
Overall, I feel there are a lot of obstacles to overcome in order to get the league back up and running again without putting everyone involved at risk. Once we see the number of daily cases and deaths go down along with some more comprehensive planning there may be a way of getting it done in time, however clubs then face the possibility of their players picking up injuiries due to the hectic fixture list. From an Arsenal point of view, personally I would like to finish the season if it is safe to do so, as rumours are going around that if the league is voided then the Champions League spaces will be decided on points per game which would mean we have no chance of getting into Europe. Another rumour floating around is the possibility of using UEFA Coefficient to decide which teams get it, in this unlikely scenario it would see the Gunners get the last Champions League place. The latter seems unrealistic to me, therefore playing our reamining games would be our best route back to where we belong as it at least gives us a fighting chance and as we had won three league games in a row before it was suspended maybe it’s our best shot.
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James Humphreys
Gunners Daily 