First games back for Premier League will be like end of pre-season, admits Sean Dyche
Burnley manager Sean Dyche believes that the first games back after the English top tier resumes will be like the end of pre-season with players not 100% match fit. Clubs across the first division in English football resumed training last week with the aim of restarting the league by mid-late June.
With footballers out of action and without being able to train for more than two months many would expect the Bundesliga restart to look like a training game. That’s exactly what has happened although two weeks back into action and things are slowly getting back to normal. Especially for the bigger sides with Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund all winning big over the weekend.
But it has taken time to happen with the change moving slowly yet steadily and Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted that the Premier League will be more or less the same. The Clarets head coach revealed that the Premier League won’t be the same as the Bundesliga as it will be “totally different”. Dyche also admitted that the first few weeks will feel like the “end of a pre-season” with teams finding their footing and moving through the gears.
"This is going to be totally different. The early games will be like the end of a pre-season. You cannot go into the season playing against other teams so I think that the actual games programme - the first one, two or three games - will be part of the final piece of the jigsaw whereas normally you would be looking to hit the first game as game-ready as possible. You might get a few odd results,” Dyche told Sky Sports.
With the Premier League restart around the corner, the biggest concern that a few clubs have will be to find their killer edge once again. The Clarets, for example, were on a great run before the lockdown and currently sit only six points off fifth place although they do have Arsenal, Tottenham, Wolves and Sheffield United to challenge them. But Dyche admitted that it is going to tough to find that level again and it will force teams to think a little differently.
"That is the challenge. These are exceptional times and exceptional circumstances so you have to think a bit differently. The way I look at it, this will come down to how flexible you can be to use the time available. Each coach will be trying to get the players as game-ready as he can. Once we can get into phase two and contact football, which will hopefully be this week, then it changes the dynamic and it is a lot easier for the players to come together.
“That makes it easier for the coaches because we can come up with different drills to keep them mentally stimulated as well as physically. Part of the mentality to perform will be clear-mindedness. We are certainly looking for that from the players. Focus on the challenge in front of us. That is one of the things that I think will be important. The big question is how quickly you can get into a format that suits the players and remind them of what they need to do,” he added.