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Coronavirus could prevent Liverpool from winning the Premier League title


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1 hour ago, JohnnyH said:

You do realise you're just casually saying all footballers should be ok with not seeing their family for close to two months (when you also add the 14 days isolation required after the football is over) don't you?

 

While what you're saying is of course possible (Anything is, I suppose) it is really really really really not as simple as you suggest for the above consideration alone.  Someone tells me that because of my job I won't see my family for 2 months, then I'd laugh in their faces (while respecting social distancing).  Someone tells my I won't see them for 2 months because of feckin football?  I'd punch them in their fannys.

It isn't unheard of for footballers to be away from their families for extended periods. When international tournaments are held (e.g World cup and Euros), many teams have strict training camps for weeks and some teams who go far in the tournament might spend up to 6 weeks without seeing their family.

 

Asking players to isolate in a quarantine camp for up to 2 months isn't ideal but it is the best solution to protect themselves and their families from the risk of infection if/when the season is restarted.

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2 minutes ago, JohnnyH said:

I think you're missing the point of my post.  I fully agree with both your paragraphs, especially the second one as I think a return of football will be vital for giving people a chance to just switch off for 90 mins from the incessant worry and stress of this crisis.

 

What I'm saying is the casual way it was portrayed and that it is "easy" is far from the truth.  Even one footballer saying he won't isolate from his family for 2 months throws a huge spanner in the works.  I certainly wouldn't do it.

I'm not sure comparisons with 'regular' lives are valid. They are fortunate/unfortunate in having a much shorter career than most of us on here and, money aside, I reckon most will be itching to crack on with it.

 

Also, it's hardly uncommon for a top class, international footballer to be away from their families for a few weeks at a time most summers. Many would have been doing so anyway for the European Championships.

 

Of course, some may have underlying health issues and others just won't want to take the risk. I reckon the Bundesliga's return will set the template for the rest of Europe.

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10 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

I'm not sure comparisons with 'regular' lives are valid. They are fortunate/unfortunate in having a much shorter career than most of us on here and, money aside, I reckon most will be itching to crack on with it.

 

Also, it's hardly uncommon for a top class, international footballer to be away from their families for a few weeks at a time most summers. Many would have been doing so anyway for the European Championships.

 

Of course, some may have underlying health issues and others just won't want to take the risk. I reckon the Bundesliga's return will set the template for the rest of Europe.

 

Your first paragraph I completely disagree with.  A human is a human, regardless of whether they have £10,000,000 in the bank or £10 or their career is 10 years or 40 years.  If you don't want to be away from your family then that's that.  Especially if you have vulnerable members (new born, medical/mental issues, etc).  It's like the nonsense comments about famous people with mental health issues of "How can they be depressed, they're loaded?".  A person is a person.

 

Your second paragraph is comparing apples with oranges.  International tournaments last a month if you're lucky enough to go all the way, and wives/partners and kids are allowed visit at set times. (The WAGs visits as the red tops like to call it).  In this case it'd be 2 months, if not more.  The 2-3 weeks of training before games start.  The 5 weeks of league games (more for teams still in FA Cup and CL) and then the 2 weeks after it's over of isolation.  It does not compare.

 

Your third paragraph I agree with.  The German return will tell us a lot.

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21 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

I'm not sure comparisons with 'regular' lives are valid. They are fortunate/unfortunate in having a much shorter career than most of us on here and, money aside, I reckon most will be itching to crack on with it.

 

Also, it's hardly uncommon for a top class, international footballer to be away from their families for a few weeks at a time most summers. Many would have been doing so anyway for the European Championships.

 

Of course, some may have underlying health issues and others just won't want to take the risk. I reckon the Bundesliga's return will set the template for the rest of Europe.

Agree the Bundesliga return is going to be the test case to see if behind closed doors is feasible or not. 
 

if it's a success ( I think the viewing figures will be huge ) then the other 4 big leagues will move heaven and earth to get in on the action. 
 

From a players perspective again if they see their Bundesliga counterparts resuming games I think there won't be many who will refuse to play. 

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19 minutes ago, Supremolad said:

It isn't unheard of for footballers to be away from their families for extended periods. When international tournaments are held (e.g World cup and Euros), many teams have strict training camps for weeks and some teams who go far in the tournament might spend up to 6 weeks without seeing their family.

 

Asking players to isolate in a quarantine camp for up to 2 months isn't ideal but it is the best solution to protect themselves and their families from the risk of infection if/when the season is restarted.

 

As I said in my other reply.  No, they don't. Families get to visit. At every international tournament you've ever seen the camera pans to the crowd to show the famous/beautiful wide.  Also, an international tournament is something you plan for for years.

 

In this case it'll be a minimum of 2 months, probably more.  At a time of a pandemic.  With no chance of even 5 mins with your family. Comparing it to international footy is as bad as the people comparing Covid-19 with the flu.

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16 minutes ago, JohnnyH said:

 

Your first paragraph I completely disagree with.  A human is a human, regardless of whether they have £10,000,000 in the bank or £10 or their career is 10 years or 40 years.  If you don't want to be away from your family then that's that.  Especially if you have vulnerable members (new born, medical/mental issues, etc).  It's like the nonsense comments about famous people with mental health issues of "How can they be depressed, they're loaded?".  A person is a person.

 

Your second paragraph is comparing apples with oranges.  International tournaments last a month if you're lucky enough to go all the way, and wives/partners and kids are allowed visit at set times. (The WAGs visits as the red tops like to call it).  In this case it'd be 2 months, if not more.  The 2-3 weeks of training before games start.  The 5 weeks of league games (more for teams still in FA Cup and CL) and then the 2 weeks after it's over of isolation.  It does not compare.

 

Your third paragraph I agree with.  The German return will tell us a lot.

Fair enough. Still disagree with you though. Think you're looking at it with narrow Regular Guy On The Street tinted-shades. Elite sportspeople have very different motivations and drivers (money not being one in this case), that's why they are where they are.

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The faroese league will start on 9 of mai, and a team needs to have 3 players covid positive for a game to be postponed. Any player tested positive will be put in a 14 day quarantine of course, but the team still needs to play games as long as there are "only" 3 positive cases.

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31 minutes ago, El Rojo said:

Fair enough. Still disagree with you though. Think you're looking at it with narrow Regular Guy On The Street tinted-shades. Elite sportspeople have very different motivations and drivers (money not being one in this case), that's why they are where they are.

 

Hairy muff.  I agree that 99% of them will be happy to play.  I think there'll be a 1% who possibly don't want to and a higher % with reservations.

 

Having said all that, my original post was about this being "easy" and "simple", not about footballers motivations.  It's not easy and simple.  It'll be extremely hard in many ways.  Hopefully they can do it though. 

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3 minutes ago, JohnnyH said:

 

Hairy muff.  I agree that 99% of them will be happy to play.  I think there'll be a 1% who possibly don't want to and a higher % with reservations.

 

Having said all that, my original post was about this being "easy" and "simple", not about footballers motivations.  It's not easy and simple.  It'll be extremely hard in many ways.  Hopefully they can do it though. 

To be honest, I'm blindly arguing this as somebody who really, really wants it to happen. Christ knows how practical or doable it will be. 

 

Can you imagine the buzz knowing we'd be on the box in a few days or hours time, a couple of wins away from the title? Not ideal in an empty stadium, but an awful lot better than the current emptiness.

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1 hour ago, El Rojo said:

Fair enough. Still disagree with you though. Think you're looking at it with narrow Regular Guy On The Street tinted-shades. Elite sportspeople have very different motivations and drivers (money not being one in this case), that's why they are where they are.

Right now I’d give my left bollock to be isolated away from the kids for a few weeks. I’d imagine there are a few players who would agree with me.

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3 hours ago, JohnnyH said:

You do realise you're just casually saying all footballers should be ok with not seeing their family for close to two months (when you also add the 14 days isolation required after the football is over) don't you?

 

While what you're saying is of course possible (Anything is, I suppose) it is really really really really not as simple as you suggest for the above consideration alone.  Someone tells me that because of my job I won't see my family for 2 months, then I'd laugh in their faces (while respecting social distancing).  Someone tells my I won't see them for 2 months because of feckin football?  I'd punch them in their fannys.


I said one month, not two months.

 

To be away from the family for a month is pretty regular in a lot of jobs, so considering the wages these footballers have I’m sure they can manage it.

 

The truth is that there are a lot of uninformed “hysteria” about this virus. 
 

If you are not a health worker, if you are not staying in an institution and if you oblige to certain precautions the risk is minimal for you to get infected.

 

We have heard about young people dying, but do we get informed about their actual health issues before they got infected by the virus, what kind of underlying issues did they have etc.

 

The danger is that this idea about football starting up is some kind of morale issue, if that idea get stuck, then we are fucked.

 

Society can’t stop because some people are in danger because of the Corona  virus, we need to open up again when it’s safe to do so from a health perspective, not a morale perspective

 

Football under the right restrictions, should and could be starting up again very soon.

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I think the talk about continued isolation is becoming a little moot. People are starting to go back to work in the UK. Building sites re opening, burger take aways re opening, B&Q stores re opening, traffic in London at least up 10% in recent days. And people are clearly going along with the opening up by default.

 

The UK Government are either going to have to clamp down with more draconian measures or accept the de facto situation on people starting to ignore the lock down.

 

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1 hour ago, JohnnyH said:

 

As I said in my other reply.  No, they don't. Families get to visit. At every international tournament you've ever seen the camera pans to the crowd to show the famous/beautiful wide.  Also, an international tournament is something you plan for for years.

 

In this case it'll be a minimum of 2 months, probably more.  At a time of a pandemic.  With no chance of even 5 mins with your family. Comparing it to international footy is as bad as the people comparing Covid-19 with the flu.

Your last line is churlish and ridiculous. No need for it.

 

Not all families get to visit all teams before and during international tournaments. If you think so, then you haven't been paying close enough attention over the decades. 

 

Yes, some managers allow for visitation during international tournaments and some don't.  That's why I said it isn't unheard of. And again, you want to pretend that asking them to stay isolated in camp for 2 months during a pandemic is to their detriment. When actually, it would be for their own safety and their family's, to limit the risk of the players picking an infection. It is the best of a range of options.

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1 hour ago, JohnnyH said:

 

Hairy muff.  I agree that 99% of them will be happy to play.  I think there'll be a 1% who possibly don't want to and a higher % with reservations.

 

Having said all that, my original post was about this being "easy" and "simple", not about footballers motivations.  It's not easy and simple.  It'll be extremely hard in many ways.  Hopefully they can do it though. 

All football players have currently had around 4 weeks locked up at home with their families, If they had to go away for 1 to 2 months I am sure most would be ok with it.  The ones with young family's would probably enjoy the break!

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3 hours ago, Funkasy said:

The faroese league will start on 9 of mai, and a team needs to have 3 players covid positive for a game to be postponed. Any player tested positive will be put in a 14 day quarantine of course, but the team still needs to play games as long as there are "only" 3 positive cases.

Sounds reasonable. It’s not as though us “key-workers” are shut down and quarantined every time someone else in the workplace tests positive.

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16 hours ago, JohnnyH said:


I think “Sporting merit” confirms it. What are the options on voiding it? Say they’ll just use last seasons finishing spots? That’s not meritorious, so UEFA would reject it. It’s done. We’re champions. 

Nah, awarding the CL spots based on current positions but no title / relegation. Gets them out of bother with UEFA while giving them an excuse not to make difficult decisions.


It, as I expected, is exactly what almost every non-Liverpool fan now seems to be calling for.

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2 hours ago, Code said:


I said one month, not two months.

 

To be away from the family for a month is pretty regular in a lot of jobs, so considering the wages these footballers have I’m sure they can manage it.

 

The truth is that there are a lot of uninformed “hysteria” about this virus. 
 

If you are not a health worker, if you are not staying in an institution and if you oblige to certain precautions the risk is minimal for you to get infected.

 

We have heard about young people dying, but do we get informed about their actual health issues before they got infected by the virus, what kind of underlying issues did they have etc.

 

The danger is that this idea about football starting up is some kind of morale issue, if that idea get stuck, then we are fucked.

 

Society can’t stop because some people are in danger because of the Corona  virus, we need to open up again when it’s safe to do so from a health perspective, not a morale perspective

 

Football under the right restrictions, should and could be starting up again very soon.

I totally agree on the "morale" thing.  That's nonsense.  If anything we need it more now than ever. People need a release.

 

I just can't see how it'll be a month?  Even playing Saturday / Wednesday / Saturday means 4 1/2 weeks.  Then with training before and then 2 weeks isolation after, that'll be 2 months.

 

I'm hoping it'll be back behind closed doors.  I just think there are many obstacles (Not just the player issue) which makes it far from easy.

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34 minutes ago, TheDrowningMan said:

Nah, awarding the CL spots based on current positions but no title / relegation. Gets them out of bother with UEFA while giving them an excuse not to make difficult decisions.


It, as I expected, is exactly what almost every non-Liverpool fan now seems to be calling for.

Wait, what? It's certainly not what non Liverpool fans have been calling for. How can you 'award' CL spots especially to a team that's in first place with a virtually unassailable lead and yet say they arent champions?

 

Sorry but you do chat some rubbish some times!

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34 minutes ago, TheDrowningMan said:

Nah, awarding the CL spots based on current positions but no title / relegation. Gets them out of bother with UEFA while giving them an excuse not to make difficult decisions.


It, as I expected, is exactly what almost every non-Liverpool fan now seems to be calling for.

Absolutely zero chance they are going to decide the top 4, including who finishes first so they are top seeds, and not also crown the team in 1st as champions.  Zero chance.  The only way we won't be champions is if footy starts up behind closed doors and we lose all our games and City overtake us.

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3 hours ago, Supremolad said:

Your last line is churlish and ridiculous. No need for it.

 

No, there's every need for it.  

 

In the time of a major pandemic that's killing 100s of thousands of people ,and is still ongoing, dismissing getting a major sport back up and running with the estimated 150-200 people it takes to operate the stadium, as easy and simple and 'just do it' is just as dumb as the people who dismissed Covide-19 as just the flu.

 

It's a massive undertaking which places people at risk of catching a deadly virus that if they have underlying medical issues they are not aware of could kill them.  It also could keep people away from family members for months.

 

It's not simple.  It's not easy.  We should not dismiss it as such.

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3 hours ago, dockers_strike said:

I think the talk about continued isolation is becoming a little moot. People are starting to go back to work in the UK. Building sites re opening, burger take aways re opening, B&Q stores re opening, traffic in London at least up 10% in recent days. And people are clearly going along with the opening up by default.

 

The UK Government are either going to have to clamp down with more draconian measures or accept the de facto situation on people starting to ignore the lock down.

 

Yeah I’ve certainly noticed a change of late, more people out and about, more shops opening etc, I said at the very start of this that people would not stay in lock down for a period of 3 months and certainly not longer, I’m not saying that’s right I’m just saying that it was obvious they wouldn’t. The problem now is how is this addressed, if left unchecked society will open up more and more, it will be interesting to see what happens then, if the Govt tries to clamp down then that’s when the problems will really start. These are not good times.

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