‘There should be no action against any player for refusing to return when Premier League restarts’: Ashley Westwood

Former English footballer and coach Ashley Westwood believes that players should have the right to choose whether they want to return to training grounds, or for matches when the Premier League season restarts. Westwood, who graduated from Manchester United Academy back in 1995, said that if the players do not want to return, the clubs should not take any action against them. “I think you got no option. When you talk about putting people at risk, then every player has the right to refuse,” former Bengaluru FC manager tells Hindustan Times in an exclusive telephonic chat from Sydney, Australia.

Earlier this week, Watford captain Troy Deeney had refused to return to training, citing concerns about the possibility of transmitting coronavirus to his five-month old son. Manchester City star Raheem Sterling had also raised concerns over the return of Premier League earlier this month.

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“And there can be no action if you do that. In a country, like England, you can choose to make your own calls, and nobody can force you. As a human being, you can do what you believe in. It’s not 1800s where you are forced to do anything you don’t want to,” Westwood further said.

The Premier League football is expected to return in June after the authorities have reportedly signalled a green light to the tournament amid closed doors. But despite eight players reportedly testing positive so far, some of the footballers have returned to training grounds. As per the new guidelines, the players are allowed to train in smaller groups, and Westwood says that it is really hard for coaches to do so.

“These are very strange times. I had been speaking to some of my friends from Premier League involved in coaching sessions. They told me how they are doing five training sessions each day with groups of five players - Three in the morning, two in the evening. It’s quite difficult for the coaches,” he says.

“You have to deliver the same session five times to different groups. It’s mundane to do the same things over and over again. But it’s one of the requirements for the times we are in,” says Westwood.

The former ATK coach further said that with the lockdown enforced in England since March, and training and matches cancelled, the players might not be in their best physical shape. In such a scenario, Westwood believes the idea of allowing five substitutions in a match, which has been enforced by Bundesliga, is a good idea.

“We are trying to rush and get this up and running. Players have not trained under the right circumstances to stimulate the pace, athleticism and intensity required to play out a 90-minute Premier League game in normal circumstances. You have to make allowances to maybe have a couple of substitutions more for a team that is not as fit they would normally be,” he says.

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“We also know it would be a tighter schedule,” he adds. Westwood also believes that having a crunched schedule, and keeping safety issues in mind, the authorities can also look into limiting the number of stadiums in which matches are allowed to be played. But with each team preferring home matches over away matches, it might be an idea which many clubs might find unfair.

“Some teams have got more home games left than others. That is always an advantage. The home advantage will get lost and clubs might find it unfair. But we need to get things finished, rather than thinking about what’s fair, and what’s unfair,” he says.

“You have to take the trouble of going all around the country, and every ground requires a huge number of people - stewards, media, cleaners. It’s not just football staff, players and bench players. It will also require a lot of testing equipment which is really expensive,” he further adds.

Westwood saw a K-League football match on TV, which was being played without the crowd, and he felt it looked like a pre-season game. He says that the absence of a crowd will also affect the intensity of a player during a match.

“There will be a psychological element playing in the mind of players in these strange times. The performance levels will not be as intense as it would be in front of a full stadium. The crowd and the atmosphere gives you goosebumps and tingles,” he says. “It doesn’t matter who you are, the absence of crowd makes it harder to raise the intensity you are required on a normal footballing weekend,” he further says.

There are also discussions being made about restarting the Champions League in August, with all the remaining knockout games being played over just one leg, instead of two. Westwood thinks it will be a good idea to implement so that the tournament can be concluded.

“If they can get the seasons finished, someway, somehow, some format - then they should go ahead with Champions League. We don’t want that kind of discrepancy in football, where a team is thinking we could have won that. If it’s possible, and safe to do so, then just get it done. We all want a conclusion to everything that starts,” he signs off.

(Fans can watch Ashley Westwood talk about Real Madrid’s journey to lifting their 10th UEFA Champions League Cup on 24th May 2020 at 6.00 pm, only on Sony Ten Pit Stop on channels official Facebook page)