Football is on hold for the foreseeable future and yet we soldier on. There’s no disrespect in searching for a silver lining for Chelsea.
With football on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic it is hard to really tell what is appropriate to discuss in a forum such as this and what would be pandering and ridiculous from a non-medical professional. So we’ll leave it at this: Treat others the way you would wish to be treated, but we cannot in life surrender to panic. Do your best and use your best judgment.
Now football.
Chelsea have been hamstrung by a ridiculous laundry list of injuries in recent matches. An extra month without any competitive fixtures to rest, rehab and simply recover might benefit the Blues more than anything else.
Many of the Blues’ injuries are the sort that we associate with tiredness at the end of a long season: pulled muscles, sore or strained tendons, and the like.
It’s possible that when football eventually resumes Chelsea will have a clean bill of health across the board. Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Christian Pulisic, Mateo Kovacic and Callum Hudson-Odoi could all be back and give Frank Lampard the resources he’ll need to fight off a resurgent Manchester United, and then Sheffield United and Wolves.
With the possibility that UEFA will simply and rightly postpone Euro 2020, the Premier League season will likely be delayed and not altered beyond that. That seems to be the best and most honest way of handling things.
Calling the year as it is would be absurd. A season is made up of 38 games, not 29. You cannot cast aside the importance of nearly a quarter of the season to hand a trophy to one side. Don’t be obtuse.
You also cannot cast aside the importance of those fixtures in the final placements of literally every other side in the table. The merit bonuses that the teams earn for where they finish matter greatly, in some cases to the level of financial survival. For the teams in the relegation battle, to cast them out of the Premier League without their full chance to earn survival all for the very obvious Liverpool favoritism would be insane.
If people are determined to end the season now and just have it be the only 29 game season in the history of the division, they should string together some glittery and cute little ribbons for Liverpool that say “Best Through 29 Matches – Congrats!”
But to simply hand over a title un-won is too off the boil to be considered by anyone serious.
Like no time before, UEFA and FIFA are going to have to cede their desires for money-spinning international football tournaments to the needs of the clubs who actually make football possible.
League football is more important. The clubs pay the salaries, medical bills and all other associated costs for the footballers. They usually sustain a great deal of pain and bother on the behalf of the international game as well. If, at one time in the course of all football history, international football should do something to aid club football, this is it.
It’s hard to tell what is going to happen with football for the rest of the season. Hopefully it resumes as usual when it is deemed safe to do so.
In the end, times like these teach us about the things in life that really matter. Sport can set a good, widely communicated example to the public, and that shouldn’t be treated lightly.
Sport at its best can be an exemplary microcosm to convey ideals of human behavior and achievement to the public at large. This is a great time for it to do just that.