Premier League postponements are right, but will cause mayhem later

Covid postponements roil Premier League

The Premier League has been postponing matches as necessary and the results will end up better than the alternative.

But in the meantime, madness will ensue. That’s because of the constant reshuffling of schedules, breaks in play and the inevitable packing of schedules that will come at the end of the season.

The Premier League is making the correct call since matches stocked with youth and inexperience would not resemble typical matches between big-name teams, yet the madness will come before the desired effect can be properly felt.

By the desired effect, I simply mean that while the games that are played will be played with the top talent, as they should be, they will not be played when they should’ve been played originally.

The teams will meet at parts of the year which can already be incredibly busy, should teams find themselves still playing in Europe or the FA Cup, and which will now only be busier for all teams, not simply those with European or other domestic obligations.

Therefore, while many clubs are getting reprieves right now in the month of December, they will not be so fortunate in the second half of the year, especially depending when those games are rescheduled, and how many need to be rescheduled.

Premier League wants stars on pitch, teams at full strength?

All leagues are as reliant on their teams – the brands – as they are upon the players who make up those brands. When one is off, the other can suffer, and vice versa. For teams without their best players, they are hardly the best versions of themselves. While the next man behind them will step up, there is a reason why that individual was behind the individual who would normally be playing.

Now, a dysfunctional team can, to the same extent, damage good, talented players who are simply caught up in the tide of their ineptitude and wrongheadedness. The postponement takes care of both of these issues, I think, without necessarily putting any of the parties in line to be directly blamed.

The players get to rest and recover, while the teams, whether they have been consistent and positive or ignorant and dismissive, can regroup and look to play their matches later in the year with less issue of this illness and the effects it can have on an entire organization. This is undoubtedly good for the teams, the players, the fans, as well as the product on the pitch.

Unfortunately, the price will be paid down the road, and some teams will be better designed to cope with it than others. Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, all the big clubs and all the good, young clubs, will be better prepared than those like Everton or Brentford, who will have to find resolve from within their main players for a barrage of matches from every direction.

If the options are to let teams play with players from their B team or youth outfits, then no team will be happy and the fans will not be either. The road will not be easy, but it will be fair in that everyone will be as healthy as they can hope to be, outside of traditional injuries, and will all be traveling that very busy road together.