The return of the English Premier League is a drama that has almost been as tense as last-season’s title race between Liverpool and Manchester City. It’s certainly more entertaining than this season’s title race between Liverpool and Coronavirus.
With three weeks until UEFA’s deadline for receiving plans from the major European league as to whether they are able to resume or not, time is running out for the Premier League. Over the weekend, the problem of time has been added to by several other bumps in what is already a rocky road ahead.
There are so many factors that need to align for this season’s Premier League to return that it is starting to seem like the impossible job to reschedule the game we all love until next season. Even then, the season would usually start in August, with pre-season kicking off in six weeks time. That seems like dreamland with COVID-19 reportedly having infected 3.5 million people worldwide and led to the deaths of around 250,000 people.
Last week, Sergio Aguero expressed for the first time the concerns that players at all clubs must be having, saying that he and many of his teammates were ‘scared’ about the consequences of playing out the Premier League season. Kevin De Bruyne paused between hinting that a UEFA Champions League ban for Manchester City might lead to him leaving the Citizens to admit that the fear his Argentinian teammate at City spoke about was how anyone who caught the disease might affect their families.
Further questions have arisen. If a team were unable to play because one of their players came down with the Coronavirus, would their games be voided while others carry on playing? Would the league be suspended afresh again? Essentially, when will there be an end to the virus?
This, of course, is the question everyone is asking yet no-one has a qualifiable answer to. Gary Neville has attacked football clubs for not speaking out and telling football fans what they want to know – whether the Premier League will be back or not.
Steve I want football to return. I also understand the complexities . However it’s depressing that the PL and clubs seem to be in hiding, scared to death of communicating. No-one wants to be responsible for this one! Just in case the unthinkable happens. https://t.co/aL7rFeZMMW
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) May 3, 2020
The delay in the Premier League making a decision either way has led to a flood of speculation, with some suggesting that the remaining nine games for each side – roughly a quarter of the season – could be played abroad at a neutral venue.
The idea of the Premier League going on the road to Perth in Australia, or Dubai in the heat of a place where footballers typically peel off layers and do a little pre-season training is one thing. But suppose one team got sick? The whole circus would be swept up in the Big Top and flown home, surely?
All of which brings us back to what seems more likely a possibility every day – ending the season as null and void.
The possibility that the Premier League season will be ended without playing the remaining games raises its own questions. One idea put forward has been to simply ‘award’ Liverpool the Premier League and put clubs into the Champions League based on the merits of them finishing in their current positions.
There are several problems with this proposal, not least the fact that Liverpool lost four of their most recent six games in all competitions before the break. It’s hard to suggest that they were destined for a ‘Devon Loch’ style collapse, but that doesn’t matter – they haven’t won quite enough games to be crowned champions. How many or against whom is not a question, in their most recent Premier League game they were thumped 3-0 at Watford.
When it comes to the Champions League places, even less is already assured. Manchester City are currently second but facing a two-year expulsion from European competition. Leicester were third when play was suspended, but not in the best of form, with Chelsea gaining on the in the weeks leading up to Coronavirus taking over. Manchester United (5th), Wolves (6th) and Sheffield United (7th with a game in hand that if won would put them 5th) have plenty of cause to claim they would have made a Champions League place if the season played out. In particular, United only had Leicester to face of the current top four in the Premier League, having completed home and away fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
What of the teams who face relegation? Aston Villa currently sit in the relegation zone, but if they were to win their extra game, then would leapfrog two teams in their bid for survival. Any side down the bottom of the Premier League would be prepared to travel but only if relegation was off the table. Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber told BBC Sport that the club “fully appreciate why playing behind closed doors is very likely to be a necessary compromise to play our remaining games. At this critical point in the season, playing matches in neutral venues has, in our view, potential to have a material effect on the integrity of the competition.”
At the Amex Stadium, Brighton might have a solid chance of survival. At a neutral venue, they would be at a disadvantage that could be debilitating and cost them their Premier League lives.
At this stage of proceedings, desperation seems to be the key term, with every club having a totally different set of problems upon which to base their arguments. Effectively, every time the Premier League’s 20 clubs meet, they all arrive at the table with a different agenda.
Getting any single message agreed with all the clubs looks more and more like the impossible job rather than Project Restart. As so often in modern football, the solution may only be monetary.
