Players Increasingly Uncomfortable About Premier League Restart

After an agonising 61 days without football, this Saturday the Bundesliga in Germany will become the first league in Europe to resume playing since the coronavirus outbreak.

The Premier League will be an envious bystander as it continues to formulate its own plans to restart at some point in June.

Earlier this week the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his support to professional football returning behind closed doors next month, and added that he believed this would provide “a much needed boost to the nation’s morale.”

The only problem is many of the players themselves, who are expected to take to the pitch, don’t feel the same way about this imminent return.

The Tottenham defender Danny Rose, who is currently on loan at Newcastle United, gave the most strident response to the prime minster.

“Government is saying bring football back as it is going to boost the nation’s morale, [but] I don’t give a **** about the nation’s morale, bro, people’s lives are at risk,” he declared.

“Football shouldn’t even be spoken about coming back until the numbers have dropped massively. Football should be the last of things that need to be sorted.”

The United Kingdom has one of the worst records for coronavirus deaths, and as of May 12, there had been a total of 32,692 victims.

Rose is far from alone in his opposition to a quick return to the football pitch.  

His England team-mate, the Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling also voiced his concerns earlier this week: “The moment we do go back it just needs to be a moment where it’s not just for footballing reasons; it’s safe for not just us footballers but the whole medical staff, referees.”

“Until then, I’m, how can I say, not scared, but reserved and thinking what the worst outcome could be.”

“I’ve had friends whose grandmas passed away. I’ve had family members as well that have passed away. You’ve got to be wise and take care of yourself and those around you.”

Brighton’s Glenn Murray, West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell and Arsenal’s Matteo Guendouzi have also spoken about their reluctance to play so soon, while the Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero revealed he was scared.

“The majority of players are scared because they have family, they have children, they have babies,” the Argentinian has said. “When we go back, I imagine that we will be very tense, we will be very careful and the moment someone feels ill, you will think: ‘What’s gone on there?’ It does scare me.”

According to an opinion poll from YouGov this week, these players are actually more in tune with the British people than the prime minister.

At 73%, an overwhelming majority of those surveyed said they did not believe the return of the Premier League would boost the nation’s morale. Only 19% of respondents believed it would.

This week the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) will meet with the Premier League to raise their members’ safety fears, and look to obtain the answers they need to reassure them about playing again.

On Saturday, these house-bound players will tune in to watch the return of the Bundesliga to see if football in a pandemic really is possible, and above all, hope that none of their own worst fears are realised there.