Football pales into insignificance at this time as coronavirus crisis affects country

NO matter how much we all love football, right now it is all about keeping people safe.

And making sure worldwide we are in the best place to deal with this terrible virus — as quickly as possible.

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Jurgen Klopp faces a difficult task keeping his players focusedCredit: Rex Features

But it is only natural there is so much interest in how footballers are dealing with the crisis.

Much has been made about how managers are keeping them fit, with no idea when games might start up again.

One of the biggest challenges for Jurgen Klopp and Co is the mental side of their players — keeping them in the right frame of mind.

Fitness becomes secondary, the football becomes secondary — it is about the well-being of individuals.

Just because you have money doesn’t take away the fears. Money is not going to stop anybody from catching this virus.

When you are training Monday to Friday everything is in preparation for that game. Players end up being regimented.

Now the priorities are changing for them — the biggest one is making sure they and their loved ones, and the people around them, are safe.

So bosses need to ensure nothing they are doing as a group or as individuals could mean them catching the virus and passing it on to someone more vulnerable.

These are all the matches that have been suspended so far

I’ve had experience of having to train for months on end with no prospect of playing games.

When I was on loan from Manchester United at Antwerp in 1999, I was banned for a year — later reduced to four months — for allegedly headbutting a referee.

The fact the ban was quashed at appeal as I’d already served those four months says everything about what I was ­supposed to have done.

It’s a difficult comparison to make with what is happening now. But I can say it was incredibly tough for me to deal with mentally — the boredom of having nothing at the end of the week.

I thought it was the end of my career before it had begun.

Would people think I actually did what I was alleged to have done and would be a bad character in the dressing room?

You have all those thoughts going through your head and it affected me deeply.

I went out to train a couple of times and got vicious nosebleeds due to the stress. They wouldn’t stop for hours. I’d never had them before or since.

Coronavirus has severely disrupted the sporting calendar

Finally, I want to say how it is completely wrong that it took so long for the Premier League and EFL to be postponed — and even more shocking National League games went ahead at the weekend.

Even playing behind closed doors is not acceptable because there is still an opportunity for a player to get the virus.

All the talk now is of social distancing but football is a close-contact sport.

Think, for instance, how close players get to each other when they battle for the ball or go up together for an aerial challenge.

National League games were allowed to go ahead this weekendCredit: PA:Press Association/PA Images

One of the players could get the virus and pass it on to someone more vulnerable.

It should not have even been a question whether games were called off or not.

And I am talking about at all levels of the sport, right down to the grass roots.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk