THE Premier League will be “terrible quality” if stars don’t get at least three weeks to train following their coronavirus lockdown, according to Jonathan Greening.
The former Manchester United and West Brom star doesn’t want players to be rushed back on to the pitch, with players likely to be rusty and therefore risk injuries.
All elite football has been suspended until April 30 at the earliest, but is unlikely to return before July at this rate – with countless scenarios being discussed.
But Greening is worried that will mean stars will be rushed back and games squeezed in to too short a period.
Greening told GrandNational: “I remember when we used to play, end of season in May time, we would get given personal training packs in time for pre-season.
“But that was just to get you fit enough for pre-season itself and then you’d do six weeks training and play six friendlies.
“They’ve got these individual training routines that they’re doing.
“But they’re still going to have to go into full training for another two or three weeks before playing a game.
“They’ll need to play two or three behind closed door friendlies before getting themselves up to speed otherwise you’re going to get injuries.
“And the games will be of a real poor quality because players will just not be fit enough.
“When they do decide to start the season again, if they do, it will be interesting to see how long they’re given before they have to start playing competitive Premier League games again.”
IT’S ALL OVER?
Greening went on to have his say on who the football season should be finished – saying it should probably be deemed “null and void”.
The former midfielder claimed: “I’ve been arguing with loads of people about how to proceed with the season over the last few weeks.
“There are many reasons why it should be null and void, but then you think Liverpool are 25 points clear in the Premier League.
“For the Premier League to be made null and void for them it would be an absolute travesty – they’ve battered everybody and deserve to be champions.
“There’d be lawsuits, left, right and centre, it would be absolutely crazy. So, I’ve been arguing about this with a lot of people.
“Is it fair to say cancel the league completely and start again in August?
“It is probably the best way to do it but you’re going to have so many complaints from teams from like Liverpool.”
