Premier League 2019/20

[METALMAN]

I think Di Maria is good again these days

[The Lusophone]

1 minute ago, metalman said:

I think Di Maria is good again these days

I think it's more the idea he'd want to come back to us that is laughable.

[METALMAN]

Oh I see, of course:

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Speaking of laughable:

 

[Lineker]

Quote

Efforts will intensify this week to find a way to complete the Premier League season, after the government declared its desire to see football back “as soon as possible”.

With Premier League clubs due to meet on Friday and a new grouping led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also convening this week, government officials talk of a “quickening of the pace”. But as some Premier League clubs open up their training grounds, the details of how elite sport could safely return remain unresolved.

Only on Friday will top-flight clubs be presented by the league with a protocol to enable a full return to training. After a weekend of headlines trumpeting the return of top-flight football, with a three-week pre-season beginning in May and matches behind closed doors from 9 June, the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, told parliament on Monday that he backed a quick return but with a significant coda.

“I personally have been in talks with the Premier League with a view to getting football up and running as soon as possible in order to support the whole football community,” he said. “But, of course, any such moves would have to be consistent with public health guidance.”

A meeting between the DCMS, representatives of Public Health England and executives from Britain’s biggest sports, including the Premier League, is due this week to discuss how sport could safely resume. It is understood that any medical and safety plans will have to be signed off by PHE and the government.

While the challenges of staging sport, even behind closed doors, are increasingly being discussed, those that precede any resumption of competition are also coming into focus.

On Monday Arsenal, West Ham and Brighton reopened their facilities for socially distant training and Tottenham will do the same on Tuesday. With limits on time and the number of athletes, each club is setting its own terms. Arsenal allowed a maximum of five players on to their training pitches at any one time, while West Ham and Tottenham are limiting their players to solo running exercises. Spurs say no more than one player will be permitted on any pitch at any time and that players must arrive alone in kit and return home immediately after their session.

According to one expert, conditions would have to substantially improve for final preparations for any resumption to begin in the middle of May.

“With social distancing you can’t do the things that tick lots of boxes,” said Dr Craig Boyd, senior lecturer in sports performance at Manchester Metropolitan University, who has worked with elite football clubs and Team GB athletes. “Game-defining moments are sprinting, turning, stopping, tackling and doing those while considering opponents and the ball.

“These are the most strenuous activities in football and increase the likelihood of success and failure. They are currently totally stripped back, and even in small groups they would be problematic. Getting over social distancing, that is the big thing.

“Players will need less time to get fit than in normal pre-season because they won’t be flying around the world playing games. But until you’ve got the whole team back together the technical, tactical and physical can’t be worked on. And if you don’t have enough time to do it, it will increase the likelihood of injury.”

In a move that appears to acknowledge the physical demands that will be put on players when the season recommences, Fifa announced on Monday that it would advocate the temporary introduction of up to five substitutions per team. These could be made in a maximum of three in-game slots and at half-time.

“Safety of the players is one of Fifa’s main priorities,” said a spokesperson. “One concern in this regard is that the frequency of matches may increase the risk of potential injuries due to a player overload.

“In light of this and the unique challenge faced globally in delivering competitions according to the originally foreseen calendar, Fifa proposes a larger number of substitutions be temporarily allowed at the discretion of the relevant competition organiser.” This could be applied until the end of the 2020-21 season and to international games until 31 December 2021.

Elsewhere, Uefa announced that it would be releasing €236.5m (£206.3m) to its member associations. The money comes from the governing body’s HatTrick fund and is usually ringfenced for “investment, education and knowledge sharing”. Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, said that because of the “unprecedented challenge” of Covid-19 those restrictions were to be lifted.

The Watford chairman and CEO, Scott Duxbury, has said that a resumption of top-level football in England should be off the agenda until the burden on the NHS has become less severe, adding that he does not think “football is important at the moment”.

Before the meeting of Premier League executives scheduled for Friday, and with the Bundesliga lined up to be the first major league to restart after a coronavirus lockdown, Duxbury said: “I feel uncomfortable at this stage even talking about football because there are people dying every day, there are stresses on the NHS, and that has to be the priority.

“Do I want to resume football? Absolutely, and when it’s safe and the government says it’s fine and all the players and support staff that follow football can return, then I’m 100% behind that. But at the moment I feel all efforts have to be on beating the pandemic and supporting the NHS.”

During the lockdown Watford have opened their stadium up to staff from neighbouring Watford general hospital, as well as those from hospitals in nearby Hemel Hempstead and St Albans. Executive boxes, including the one leased by the captain, Troy Deeney, have been converted into bedrooms for NHS staff isolating from family members, meeting rooms have been made available, and the club are cleaning 10,000 pairs of scrubs and providing 1,000 free meals a day. They are also in the process of converting a separate part of the stadium to host antenatal and postnatal appointments, which will open on Wednesday.

Watford are owned by the same family that controls the northern Italian club Udinese, with the two teams also sharing some scouting and administrative staff. Duxbury said: “I have a lot of friends, a lot of colleagues in Italy, some of whom unfortunately have died because of this and I think it does bring home how serious this situation is.

“I’m not trying to be disrespectful when I say I don’t think football is important at the moment. This is the fight that’s important, the support that we’re providing is important. Of course we have to get back to normality, of course football plays a huge part in that, but at the moment the world finds itself in an awful situation, and this is where our focus needs to be.”

Earlier this month Watford general hospital declared a critical incident as their oxygen supplies dwindled, but though that particular crisis is over they remain severely stretched. “It’s been fantastic,” said Theresa Maunganidze, a surgical specialist nurse who has been working with Covid-19 patients, who was among those using the facilities in a busy Lower Graham Taylor stand on Monday lunchtime. “We’re in PPE most of the time, seeing difficult situations the type of which we’ve never seen before. Having that break, to come out for fresh air, to come to a place that’s not a hospital, to chat and laugh and share experiences and reflect on the day, it’s been amazing.

“As nurses we’re there to care for patients and see them get better but when you know people are dying no matter how much you try to help them, it is daunting. But most importantly we are the ones who are there for the patients in their last days. There are no relatives around. It is intense and emotionally draining.”

The club’s Sir Elton John suite has been repurposed as an area for meetings and training, and Duxbury has been in touch with former owner during the current situation. “He’s aware of what we’re doing and he’s very proud of the football club. For him to see those values that he and Graham set are very much alive and well, it’s something that he and we all should be very proud of.”

Liverpool have postponed the expansion of the Anfield Road stand by at least 12 months because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Work on the £60m, 16,000-seat stand was to begin in December, subject to planning permission, in order for an 18-month development to be completed in the summer of 2022.

A close season is required to put the finishing touches to the construction, a timeline Liverpool also followed when building the new main stand. However, with no guarantee the time-sensitive project can start in December, club officials have delayed the expansion.

Liverpool hope to start work on increasing Anfield’s capacity to more than 61,000 in December 2021, with a view to completion in the summer of 2023.

Andy Hughes, the Liverpool chief operating officer, said: “We have experienced a number of delays to the planned project as a direct result of the Covid-19 lockdown. Given the challenges that many sectors are facing, including the construction, procurement and public sectors, we are taking a responsible approach to pause the project for at least 12 months.

“The complex build programme for Anfield Road is an 18-month process and needs two clear summer closed-season windows in order for it to be successful. This is why we are pausing on the project for at least 12 months so the earliest we could complete is summer 2023 rather than summer 2022 as originally planned.

“Given the planning application is no longer time critical, it is our intention to submit our planning application at some stage during the next 12 months.”

Hughes added that Liverpool would use the delay “to review and consider options”.

[Colly]

Didn't know that about Watford, that's brilliant.

[Baddar]

[Colly]

Cannes we make a rule that all posts in here are pun based from now on?

[Baddar]

That would be for the Brest but I'm not Sochaux the mods would approve.

[Kaney]

I'd be Lyon if I said I didn't approve.

[gunnar hendershow]

I don't think I'd ever get Bordeaux it.

[Naitch]

You can Marseille that again.

[Nelson]

As long as it doesn't get nasty. After all, we're all Metz.

[Baddar]

Come on, we have to be running out of these now. 

...or can we keep it going a Lille bit longer? 

[King Ellis]

8 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Come on, we have to be running out of these now. 

...or can we keep it going a Lille bit longer? 

If you think EWB is going to run out of puns then that's a bet you're going Tolouse.

[Colly]

The quality might drop as it Ardennes though.

[Liam]

Not if we all Troyes our best.

[Malenko]

2020 may not be the Bastia so far but I'm sure it will improve..

 

Ok.That was terrible. I'm sorry if it Angers anyone.

[Kaney]

Nah, that was Nice.

[DavidMarrio]

1 hour ago, Liam said:

Not if we all Troyes our Brest.