What do players in the game want in the midst of the corona virus crisis?
Amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, there is a lot of talk about what happens to the football season after that.
In its current form, any resume is suspended indefinitely until the virus is properly contained and it is safe for players to return to the field.
Even then, there are discussions about whether to cancel the current season, play games behind closed doors, or wait for fans to return to enjoy the full matchday experience.
Here, Sports email has collected views from all over the world of football to see what players, managers, owners and experts think about what to do next …
Grounds, including Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, have been closed since March 9
Complete the season behind closed doors
Wes Morgan, Leicester captain: “As soon as the government or football authorities consider it safe, or at least safe to play under quarantine, we should do it,” he told The Times.
“It would be a great sacrifice for many people. Being away from family for so long isn’t easy, but you can talk on FaceTime. And once you are in that bubble, you learn to keep going.
“It would boost the nation. Everyone misses it. I think everyone feels the hole that its absence has left in our lives. When this first happened, and people talked about playing behind closed doors, I wasn’t ready.
‘Fans make the game what it is, create the atmosphere. It would be a shame if they couldn’t see us playing. However, given the magnitude of this crisis, and how long we have not had football, there is a change in perspective.
“I think most fans would love to see the games on TV. And the players know that we have a responsibility to play – as long as it is safe to do so. ‘
Wes Morgan has changed his mind and now feels that games should be played without fans
Leroy Sane, Manchester City forward: “You read something different every day and even the experts disagree, so it’s hard for me to make an assessment,” he told the German FA’s website.
“I can only say that I really miss football and want to get back on the field as soon as possible.
“We have no choice but to trust the experts and be ready when we are told to start over. If it continues like this, it’s likely to be behind closed doors.
“But that would also be nice. It is important that we find solutions, without taking human health lightly. From a purely sporty point of view, it would of course be the best thing to do if the season was somehow over. ‘
Leroy Sane says the fairest way is to end the season without taking people’s health lightly
Chris Wilder, manager Sheffield United: “At first I didn’t want to play the remaining games behind closed doors, but my position now is that, if that’s what it should be to end the season, then it should be,” he told Oliver Holt on Sunday in the mail.
“There is no compromise here. No matter how long it takes, we have to finish the season.
“The idea of freezing positions as they are right now is not for me, even if you look at the table and think it would not be a bad result for this club from a selfish point of view.
“Everyone will look at it from a selfish point of view and they have to get out of that. The Premier League season is a race. It’s 38 games. No matter how many points someone is ahead of or how many points someone is behind, it is sport and anything can happen. ‘
Chris Wilder says that no compromises can be made and that the top flight season should be completed
Darragh MacAnthony, Peterborough Chairman: “I have no problem with the plan,” he told the Peterborough Telegraph. “I thought we might be back in training before May 16, like in Germany, but if we have to play the rest of the games behind closed doors in 56 days, let’s just finish it.
“It’s not ideal and I know some people say it’s crazy and ridiculous, but these people are usually with clubs that are in danger of being demoted or have nothing to play for.
“I understand self-preservation, but we have to protect the integrity of our competition and the clubs have contracts they have to honor regarding sponsorships and other financial deals that we could lose if we just quit the season and start over.
‘I think the risks of contamination for sports professionals are minimal. I think there is a controlled way to finish the season and we just need to do that now. We have to stop all the complaining and continue. ‘
Delete the season
Luke Shaw, defender of Manchester United: “Delete it and start over. Start over again yes, ‘he said during a Combat Corona Twitch FIFA match. “You should know. If we cannot continue it, it must be null and void.
“Fans are so important. You realize it even more [now]. I think the sport is really for fans, you know what I mean? I guess if you don’t have fans and you don’t play for fans it just doesn’t feel right.
“Especially on match day, the fans are always great and always help the team. Whether at home or not, our fans are always brilliant and I feel they are always with us. ‘
Luke Shaw is in favor of the season being dropped and starting again for 2020-21
Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City midfielder: “I have no idea when we will play again,” he told the Belgian news site HLN.
“You haven’t played for six weeks. Normally you need three to four weeks of preparation. If we restart immediately, everyone will get injured after a few games.
“I know there is a lot of money involved. But I think waiting so long to make a decision next season can cause problems.
“There won’t be a long summer vacation and you can just put everything off. I would feel sad if the season ends after such a good year, but if it avoids problems for next season, it has to happen. ‘
Kevin De Bruyne says he would be sad, but the season has to be stopped and started over
Harry Kane, Tottenham striker: “I know the Premier League will do everything it can to end the season,” he said in an Instagram Live video with Jamie Redknapp.
“There must be a point where enough is enough. Probably the limit for me is late June.
‘Playing in July or August and pushing back next season, I don’t see that much benefit from that. Obviously I don’t know much about behind the scenes and financially.
“If the season isn’t finished by the end of June, we’ll have to look at the options and just look forward to next season.”
Harry Kane says if they can’t finish the season before the end of June, it should be dropped
Sadio Mane, Liverpool ahead, does not necessarily want the season to be dropped, but admits it may have to be amid the rising coronavirus death rate:
“I’ve always said I want to win trophies, the Champions League and the Premier League. I don’t feel like a champion yet. I want to win on the field and get the trophy.
“But with the situation, people all over the world are losing family members … it’s my dream – but if not, it’s part of life.”
Sadio Mane says it’s part of life that the season may need to be cut before the end
Now end the season and give Liverpool the title
Jose Holebas, Watford defender: “In my opinion you should cancel the season, for me that is quite clear,” the Greek international told Sky Sports.
“I would give Liverpool the title, they deserve it and have played fantastic football this season.
They are clearly the number one team. I don’t think there’s any point in rescheduling all the time. ‘
Jose Holebas (left) says the season should be canceled and the title should be awarded to Liverpool
Wait and end the season as normal
Gary Neville, Manchester United legend: “It would be an absolute doom scenario for football, at the end of the day football doesn’t matter at the moment, but it should be a doom scenario for football not to finish the existing games for this season.
“I don’t see how you can essentially continue next season without essentially completing those games.”
Gary Neville says this season must be completed before the next campaign can be considered
Aaron Cresswell, West Ham defender: “Of course we all miss it, but there is a much bigger picture than a game of football and I think once all this is over, we can get back to work.
“None of us know how long we’ll be out and we all want to stay in the Premier League, but we can’t rush because people say we have to do it in a certain period of time to finish the season.
“If we go back to full training, no matter how much we’ve done, we’ll need a two or three week mini preseason, but if we go back, who knows?
“We are talking about playing games behind closed doors before the crowd returns, but I hope the players are respected as much as the audience, and they are not just asking us to play for entertainment on TV.”
Aaron Cresswell says that the best flight players should be respected as much as the public
Wayne Rooney, Derby midfielder and all-time top scorer in England: “The world is serious, and we in football should be no different from the rest of the population,” he said in his column for The Times. “Football is what wakes everyone up – especially in Britain – but it has to go in the background. This crisis is so much bigger than our game.
The only thing missing from all of last week’s announcements was the FA’s statement that each club should keep its players at home and not endanger anyone, rather than leave it to individual clubs to decide. I would have liked to see that.
“But otherwise we now know where we are going. The FA helped make clear that the league season will end and that’s fair.
Liverpool win the Premier League. [They] have been fantastic. They put so much work into it. They deserve this title. Can you imagine waiting 30 years and then taking it this way? The right decision has been made. ‘
Wayne Rooney says Liverpool should secure the title after the remaining games have ended
Glenn Murray, attacker from Brighton: “First of all, all professional footballers want to finish the competition. It all depends, of course, on the timing of the virus and how quickly we can overcome it.
“But for me I watched a few games in Italy without fans and the game just isn’t the same. I think we should wait until we can fill the stadiums. Make it a festive atmosphere and enjoy being in the stadiums together, because without the fans, football just isn’t the same. ‘
Glenn Murray says football is not the same without fans and football should be waiting for them
Steven Davis, Rangers midfielder: Hopefully this season can be played at the first but safest opportunity until the end. Rangers wouldn’t exist without his fans, so I personally don’t think games should be played behind closed doors.
“We’ve been getting specific fitness and diet programs in the coming weeks to enable us to be in the best physical condition possible to be ready for the challenges of the current season.
“Football must now be secondary and it is essential that we follow government advice to get this virus under control.”
Steven Davis of Rangers believes football is secondary and that the virus needs to be controlled
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