Youngsters benefit from bigger bench
IF UEFA were as quick to postpone the last round of European fixtures as they were to write a letter, then some of the fans who attended Liverpool’s Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid believe they would be healthier and safer.
Some Liverpool supporters who tested positive for the coronavirus are convinced they contracted it during the last game to be played at Anfield, where 3,000 Atletico fans were in attendance. More than 10,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Spain.
UEFA, the European Club Association and the European Leagues hastily drafted a letter that was sent out to national clubs and associations on Thursday, doubtless in response to the Belgian league abandoning its seasons. They jointly agree stopping competitions is a ‘last resort’ and outlined tentative plans to restart league seasons in July.
Trivial though football is in these portentous times, its return offers a modicum of hope that normality will, sooner or later, return to everyday lives. The game’s reputation has not been helped by the obtuse Daniel Levy or that unconscionable blowhard Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers’ Association, but their actions have been countered by Brighton coach Graham Potter and Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe taking pay cuts and the charity of Marcus Rashford and Wilfried Zaha, among others.
Football offers escapism at the best of times but its moral compass needs resetting. UEFA, the ECA and the EL have at least shown some sensitivity by eyeing July as the return date for domestic seasons, respecting the duress health and care workers are under across the continent.
Provided the UK government starts to govern appropriately and offers greater support for the National Health Service, flower beds and vases will not be in the firing line beyond the summer for fans getting their football fix. Social distancing is anathema to any sports-goer and there is still an appetite among readers for original sports news, pieces and features.
It is not crass to converse about football’s return. Non-league clubs and clubs lower down the football league pyramid have had to furlough staff and are in danger of folding the longer the suspension goes on. Restarting football, once it is safe to do so and in front of crowds, is essential to maintaining peoples’ livelihoods, mental health, and recharging the economy in local communities.
Whenever the players stride back onto the turf, the integrity of the competition is going to take a hit and the fixtures might have all the tempo of pre-season matches at high altitude. However dedicated professional athletes are at home and committed to the training sessions, it will be a struggle to transmit intensity to a matchday environment after four months devoid of competitive action. Players will be susceptible to injury.
Some clubs have reputedly proposed using five substitutes to get through matches. A fourth substitute in extra-time was introduced to domestic and European knockout competitions in 2018 and the five-sub suggestion in the Premier League has merit as a temporary measure.
It is also an opportunity for the Premier League to catch up with the squad set-ups in some of the other major European leagues. Bundesliga clubs are now permitted up to nine substitutes and in Italy it is 12, The Premier League were way behind the curve, only introducing seven substitutes ahead of the 200809 season, and its 20 clubs have to submit 25-man squads after the summer and winter transfer windows.
Given the pace of the Premier League, the annual festive fixture congestion, and shorter winter breaks than other European squads, it is folly that matchday squads in England’s top flight are not bigger. International coaches have to select 23 players for major tournaments and every one goes into a match knowing they could be involved.
For clubs with sizeable squads, extra bench berths are a useful appeasement process or to give academy graduates more first-team exposure, even if they end up being as much of a spectator as
Theo Walcott in Germany.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s inclusions or omissions of Tahith Chong and Angel Gomes in recent months have been telling and, if there was room for both, Gomes might have been more inclined to have signed a new contract by now. Solskjaer is, of course, free to select both, though settled on a balance of youth and experience with a fullish squad for the 11-match undefeated run.
A bigger bench would enhance squad harmony and also provide a dosage of reality for those who are surplus. Phil Jones, with seven starts all season, would not necessarily be guaranteed a matchday squad place if United had 12 vacant seats and would maybe be more inclined to seek a move elsewhere.