Steve Bruce, the coach of Newcastle United believes that it would not be ideal for the Premier League to resume in June because the players will not be fit enough for competitive matches. No club in the Premier has trained together or kicked the ball as a team since March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The coach of the 13th placed Newcastle United noted that all the Premier League players need at least 6 weeks training with clubs’ fitness instructor before they can get their fitness level back to a required standard.
Going by what Steve Bruce is suggesting, it means that if the players need 6 weeks to train before they can get their fitness back, it is impossible for the Premier League to resume mid-June as it is being proposed.
Most of the clubs are yet to open their training facilities for their players to start training. Even the protocols or guidelines needed to guide players when group training resumes are yet to be made official.
The Premier League and other shareholders are expected to meet on Monday, May 18, to put the provisions of the requirements to vote. They are also expected to vote for a specific date the group training and the 2019-2020 season will restart.
“We’ve listened to what has been said and, with the precautions taken, we will get back to work and start phase one,” Bruce told The Telegraph.
“Can we get to that stage where we can have all the players on the pitch together? We don’t know yet.
“Phase one will be mainly fitness work, four or five players on a pitch. Let’s see how we get on [and hope there are no infections].”
“We need enough preparation time to get these players into shape or they are just going to fall down like a pack of cards.
“Most of the managers have the same concerns. We would need at least six weeks. I don’t see how we can play games until the back end of June.”
Steve Bruce is the second coach after the coach of Watford Nigel Pearson, to publicly raise concerns about the redemption of the season. Though Bruce’s team is not in the relegation zone, it is just 8 points away from it with 9 matches left to play.
He, Pearson and other coaches who might not like the idea of resuming in June might form a force to vote against it on Monday. The Premier League requires the votes of just 14 clubs out of 20 for any decision to be rectified.
