Hammers boss Moyes fears injury pile-up if Premier League resumes
MLS says mid-May return ‘unlikely’, season could be shortened Four weeks would be ideal
LONDON: West Ham manager David Moyes fears a rash of injuries to players should there be a desperate rush to complete the Premier League season if the coronavirus relents sufficiently to allow the resumption of football.
The Premier League has now ditched plans to get back underway at the start of May and a further complication is that a number of players will be out of contract in June.
It has been suggested that clubs may need to play up to three games a week in order to finish this season before the 2020/21 campaign gets going.
Moyes would prefer a four-week build-up on the training ground before the current Premier League season resumes, should lockdown restrictions be relaxed and the Hammers boss fears the consequences if, as seems likely, clubs have less preparation time.
“I think that four weeks would be ideal. But I think three weeks will be the maximum we get,” Moyes told beIN Sports on Tuesday. “Everybody’s now talking about the injuries we’re liable to pick up either during the threeweek preparation time or during the period where it looks like we’ll have to play an awful lot of games in a short period of time.”
West Ham are only above the relegation zone on goal difference but Moyes, in his second spell in charge of the east London club, was optimistic about their long-term prospects.
“I want to build a new, energetic, young team and I think we’ve just started that,” said the 56-year-old Scottish boss. “With the signings we’ve brought in January, trying to freshen it up and given us a lot more youthfulness and direction.”
Major League Soccer said Tuesday it’s hoped for return in mid-May looked “extremely unlikely,” acknowledging it might not be possible to play its full season.
“Major League Soccer continues to regularly evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including how it will affect our plans for the 2020 season,” the league said in a statement.
“Although we hoped to return to play in mid-May, that is extremely unlikely based on the guidance of federal and local public health authorities. “Our goal remains to play as many games as possible, and while we currently have enough dates to play the entire season, we recognize at this time that it may become difficult to do so.” MLS suspended play on March 12 as the coronavirus pandemic was shutting down sports worldwide.
On March 19 MLS said it would remain suspended for eight weeks, which would have brought them back on May 10. With competition on hold indefinitely, the league has also imposed a training moratorium for all clubs, which was scheduled to last through April 24.
In an interview with ESPN, Garber said that moratorium would be extended “at least a couple weeks”. Garber also said that MLS is exploring alternative formats for completing the season. “From tournament formats and neutral locations, ultimately playing an abridged regular season, but doing everything to get as many games,” Garber said.
He said that if play does resume he thinks it would likely be without fans in what he called “MLS Studio” games. The commissioner said officials of the North
American league are monitoring their counterparts in England and Germany as they implement testing and training protocols amid the pandemic.
“We continue to learn more every day from the medical experts, and we expect to have additional details in the coming weeks regarding when we can return to play,” the league statement said.
“As we have throughout this process, we will update our fans with every decision, and we thank them for their support and understanding during this extremely challenging time.” —Agencies