Fans return to live matches…
Not since the Second World War have football and the rigours of real life clashed together in such a destructive manner.
Football is a staple of our cultural escapism but there is no escaping the grim reality of life during a global pandemic. For all the magnificent work that went into football’s restart, it remains a shell without match-going supporters.
It wasn’t just the problem of supporters being in close proximity to one another but the logistical issues of them arriving and leaving grounds, using public transport and congregating in concourses and outside stadia.
But fans will return. There will be a day when they throng and sing in hopeful masses. Not only will that be wonderful for football; it will mark the point at which we are finally through the worst of it all.
…and delight in what they once took for granted
That return should produce something deeply joyous; you truly cannot comprehend what you have until it has gone. The cheers will be louder, the celebrations mean that little bit more, the mere sight of the bright green pitch under floodlights for the first time creating a lump in the throat that you never want to leave. We have been forced to settle for armchair sport for so long that live football will be a glorious assault on the senses.
So delight in it. Go and watch local non-league games just because you can. Arrange weekends around Going To The Match. Stand for that extra minute after the final whistle and reflect upon the hustle and bustle of matchday. Immerse yourself in football as a live experience and never again take for granted how much you adore it drowning every fibre of your being for two hours.
A summer festival of football
It remains to be seen whether Euro 2020 will be played in its original format. Holding a tournament across Europe always felt like a wilful ignorance of supporters who might have to travel between five countries should their team make the final, but unless continental Europe has been covered by the vaccine it would be an unnecessarily risky move.
Even so, we have waited three years for a major tournament and, despite the attempted power and money grab by Europe’s elite clubs, they remain football’s peak. England, Scotland and Wales will all participate in the same tournament for the first time in 63 years, so let this be a festival of football for us to plunge ourselves into. Buy your sticker albums, put up your wall charts and get ready for 51 matches in 31 days. Hopefully every player isn’t absolutely knackered by then.
Avoiding the EFL apocalypse
There were grim warnings about the financial health of EFL clubs long before Covid-19. Championship clubs were spending more than they earned in revenue on wages. Lower-league clubs were left vulnerable to careless or nefarious buyers through their own desperation for investment and an ownership test that did too little to offer an ongoing assessment of club ownership.
But Covid-19 changed the game, possibly forever. The lack of match-going supporters was potentially crippling to the financial plans of lower-league and non-league clubs. Like the country as a whole, the financial impact of the pandemic may not be truly felt until 2021 and beyond.
The hope is that fears of an economic apocalypse will prove unfounded, at least partly thanks to the agreed bailout package with the Premier League. But in certain places, that hope is built on nothing but thin air and crossed fingers.
More chances for academy graduates
If there is one potential benefit to an uncertain financial future, it is that disappearing transfer budgets and austerity wage bills may persuade clubs to focus more on developing their own. A reduction in transfer mania could provide greater pathways to the first team for academy graduates.
The knock-on effects of Brexit may aid that too, clubs banned from signing under-18 players from Europe and so incentivised to focus their coaching on homegrown youth players. In turn that gives greater autonomy to academy players: they become more valuable and should push for moves if their route to the first team is blocked.
This is the last bridge to cross in English football’s attempted revolution. The talent is there and the coaching system has been systematically overhauled to prioritise technique over size and strength. Can English clubs avoid that talent falling through the cracks?
An England team that plays front-foot, attacking football
Every England manager endures a period during which it feels as if the knives are being sharpened in the media and amongst supporters. Gareth Southgate can reasonably plead that he is a victim of his own success having lost three matches inside 90 minutes since September 2018.
But the nagging doubts surrounding Southgate focus on England’s style more than their results. In four games against Belgium and Denmark in the Nations League, England scored only two goals. The accusation is that Southgate has utilised handbrake football with a penchant for one too many functional midfielders.
For the European Championship, it would be refreshing to see some front-foot, attacking football, not least because they have been handed a gentle group-stage draw and have one of the best crops of attacking midfielders and forwards in the competition. As with the World Cup there are benefits to finishing second in the group and avoiding Group F opponents before the quarter-finals. But England should aim to play with a style that makes them an opponent to avoid at any stage. This may be our best chance in years.
Lionel Messi coming to England
I’ll end with a very selfish hope. Having a partner who is shielding and therefore unable to attend matches live until a vaccine has been widely rolled out, it would be fantastic if a return to Premier League games coincided with the arrival of the best player in my lifetime. Watching Messi is an honour and a privilege that is never taken for granted.
Barcelona’s civil war almost pushed Messi to the point of exit in the summer and we may well have missed our chance. But even one year of him in England would be something to cherish. We will struggle to recognise Messi’s greatness until he retires, but the chance to watch him regularly would be the perfect tonic after months of being stuck at home.
Daniel Storey’s i football column is published in print and online every Friday (although we’ve made an exception this Christmas). You can follow him on Twitter @danielstorey85
More from Daniel Storey
- The Premier League diluted its anti-racism message at the worst possible time
- Lampard is indeed treated differently as a manager – but not for the reason he thinks
- Project ‘Bigger’ Picture: An alternative vision for the future of English football
- Liverpool have become complacent and Klopp has to find the root cause
- Fulham are making the same mistakes all over again
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2WHthDt
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