Hypothetical Question: could careers be ended/started by Corona

Wumminator

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I obviously have no idea what will happen with Corona virus. No one does. For the purposes of this thread we are going to assume football doesn’t come back until August.

Would that be enough time for some players to lose their abilities? We saw at United how fast players like Evra and Ferdinand fell. without playing football for months, could we see the likes of Silva, Milner, Ibra just completely lose the ability to compete?
Similarly players like Greenwood, Foden, Mejbri will be a lot more physically developed. That half a year off could see them being fit and raring to go.

Am I over thinking this?
 
Nope. I think you’re right. It will be interesting to see how different players have been training by themselves.

An easy example is Lukaku. He spent a summer bulking up and looked a far worse player for it (in before the jokes about how he is shit anyway, he’s not). If other players have been on an intense gym routine during this then it could hamper them heavily.
 
I was thinking the other day that we might not see the same Ronaldo again if football was somehow cancelled for the rest of 2020. I'm sure he'd like to play again but I think, at his age, not playing will be extremely damaging.
 
No, not overthinking.

Likely yes. Not just the footballers that are confirmed positive, but even more so any footballers in general.

Once football is back, it'll be interesting to see which players shall either retain good fitness and on the go straightaway, or takes time to go back to their normal form, or plummets just like that.

Let's expect many good surprises.
I wouldn't expect younger players to be better, while the oldies to be the one at worse. Having a hunch plenty of the oldies will make surprising good performances once they're back.
 
SilentWitness said:
An easy example is Lukaku. He spent a summer bulking up and looked a far worse player for it (in before the jokes about how he is shit anyway, he’s not). If other players have been on an intense gym routine during this then it could hamper them heavily.
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He was doing it on holidays — here he has a training schedule controlled by a club, and I expect Conte to give him strict dietary instructions.

As for the question in the OP — no, not to this extent. They're all pros, they're all training, Evra and Ferdinand had other problems — injuries and simple mileage. But would it affect players form in the first half of the season? Yes, without a doubt, and it would be quite a unique situation for coaching stuff to figure a way out.
 
Hard to tell, but, NFL athletes have long off-seasons of no activity (or NFL fitness levels) and go through intense and rigorous sessions to rebuild the fitness pretty quickly. Sport science being what it is today and muscle memory being a factor, which includes endurance of the muscles, they should be ok.
 
harms said:
He was doing it on holidays — here he has a training schedule controlled by a club, and I expect Conte to give him strict dietary instructions.

As for the question in the OP — no, not to this extent. They're all pros, they're all training, Evra and Ferdinand had other problems — injuries and simple mileage. But would it affect players form in the first half of the season? Yes, without a doubt, and it would be quite a unique situation for coaching stuff to figure a way out.
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Of course, but the club isn't seeing them everyday in person and directly controlling training. They can tell him to do something but players can also divert from what they're told to do and do more. Even while on holidays the clubs will advise players to do certain things.
 
Wumminator said:
I obviously have no idea what will happen with Corona virus. No one does. For the purposes of this thread we are going to assume football doesn’t come back until August.

Would that be enough time for some players to lose their abilities? We saw at United how fast players like Evra and Ferdinand fell. without playing football for months, could we see the likes of Silva, Milner, Ibra just completely lose the ability to compete?
Similarly players like Greenwood, Foden, Mejbri will be a lot more physically developed. That half a year off could see them being fit and raring to go.

Am I over thinking this?
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This is going to affect the upcoming players more. They need to play regularly to understand and develop their game play.

This break will be affecting the confidence of players like Mason Greenwood who broke into the first team squad. They need regular playing time to improve their confidence.
 
It's almost certain that somewhere, many players will basically be pushed into retirements they were already having to consider or face. I'd like to think the people like Messi, Ronaldo, etc, elite guys in their 30s, the months of rest might actually do their bodies good, and we get to see them a bit longer than we might have.
 
I think the bigger worry for me esp. after we open behind closed doors is for players who have a relatively serious case of Corona. Anecdotally it looks like you can't get to 100% lung performance after a recovery (needs to be studied etc.) but for pro-athletes their career is basically over if their lung capacity is reduced.
 
Teja said:
I think the bigger worry for me esp. after we open behind closed doors is for players who have a relatively serious case of Corona. Anecdotally it looks like you can't get to 100% lung performance after a recovery (needs to be studied etc.) but for pro-athletes their career is basically over if their lung capacity is reduced.
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Their lungs will be fine. People are letting the facts get away from them now!
 
Camilo said:
Their lungs will be fine. People are letting the facts get away from them now!
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Would like to see some sources then.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hea...oronavirus/what-coronavirus-does-to-the-lungs
https://www.jpost.com/health-scienc...ng-damage-throughout-body-doctors-fear-625099
https://www.france24.com/en/2020040...coronavirus-complications-can-last-a-lifetime

If a player (or a young healthy person otherwise) is sick enough to end up on a ventilator, it can result in lasting lung damage. Even though the death rates are fairly low for young people, the hospitalization rates are still reasonably high (anywhere between 5-20% of those that get sick).
 
You're over thinking it. Look at some of the older players in legends matches. Sure they are unfit but you can still see they have good touches, passing range, etc. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
 
In the long term it might be a good thing for many players’ development. Across sports football is notorious for having a competition season that is too long and too frequent for physically developing players in an optimal way. This is an opportunity to focus on weak areas. For example, imagine a 19-year-old Michael Owen had 6 months off the game to bulletproof his hamstrings before they were irreparably damaged.

A lot will depend on the types of training players are able to do. If they’re not exposed to proper speed work for months on end, it will be detrimental to their pace. This could be more harmful amongst older players. And in the short term we may see players’ decision-making affected as they temporarily lose the scanning, anticipation, choice of pass attributes that are a product of collective play. We may also see a rise in injuries as it’ll take time for bodies to readjust to match requirements, compared to what players have done in isolation.
 
SilentWitness said:
Of course, but the club isn't seeing them everyday in person and directly controlling training. They can tell him to do something but players can also divert from what they're told to do and do more. Even while on holidays the clubs will advise players to do certain things.
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most of us struggle to keep out of the fridge now we spend more time at home - Lukuku will need his to be locked 99% of the time.

He also has a poor mindset, he blames others for his failings. That’s not the mentality you need at this time in order to get up to speed quickly when football starts

I wouldn’t trust someone like him to keep in peak fitness, he’s likely to suffer as would many others - but it really depends on their own motivation and mindset.

Most players will be fine, but it’s the ones who usually come back from pre season slightly overweight that could be in trouble, the likes of Hazard, Rooney and Shaw are the sorts of players who I imagine are more likely to let their fitness slip.
 
Camilo said:
I was thinking the other day that we might not see the same Ronaldo again if football was somehow cancelled for the rest of 2020. I'm sure he'd like to play again but I think, at his age, not playing will be extremely damaging.
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Ronaldo does a lot of good fitness himself. He'll be fine. Ibrahimovic is the same and he was mauradering around the world.

Age is a problem of course and the younger players will find it easier to get match fitness but I think Ronnie will be fine
 
Green_Red said:
You're over thinking it. Look at some of the older players in legends matches. Sure they are unfit but you can still see they have good touches, passing range, etc. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
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Those matches don't have any kind of intensity. Any player playing in a top league will almost certainly be left behind if their fitness levels fall off a cliff.
 
reddevilchennai said:
This is going to affect the upcoming players more. They need to play regularly to understand and develop their game play.

This break will be affecting the confidence of players like Mason Greenwood who broke into the first team squad. They need regular playing time to improve their confidence.
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It’s hard to say really. If you look at Joe Gomez’s - career he’s missed about 2 seasons worth of football from the ages of 16 to 21 with some very serious injuries but has managed to show quality at the elite level of football after all that. In those periods he wouldn’t have been able to work on much playing skills in any capacity. At least most of these players can still sharpen technical skills in their gardens etc.

It will affect some no question but it will be hard to tell who I think.

Conversely, it could actually help some players like Rashford or Kane who will get proper time to recover from injuries rather than staying in a cycle of playing at the limit.
 
Was thinking the other day maybe we have seen the last of Zlatan he is 38 and I think it would have been his last season anyway.

Shame it was cut short due to this whole situation.
 
Football and many other entertainment sports would be finished. Even if they managed to claw back from this it'll take 10 -15 years to reach the limelight of pre quarantine. Kids won't be taught to play football no more
 
Classical Mechanic said:
It’s hard to say really. If you look at Joe Gomez’s - career he’s missed about 2 seasons worth of football from the ages of 16 to 21 with some very serious injuries but has managed to show quality at the elite level of football after all that. In those periods he wouldn’t have been able to work on much playing skills in any capacity. At least most of these players can still sharpen technical skills in their gardens etc.

It will affect some no question but it will be hard to tell who I think.

Conversely, it could actually help some players like Rashford or Kane who will get proper time to recover from injuries rather than staying in a cycle of playing at the limit.
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2 years vacum of pro football is game over for many talents I think. You can keep your shape etc but the touch / feeling / instinct would be all gone. Messi still gonna be good, but I'd wager a bet 90+ percent would decline in performance
 
Sky1981 said:
2 years vacum of pro football is game over for many talents I think. You can keep your shape etc but the touch / feeling / instinct would be all gone. Messi still gonna be good, but I'd wager a bet 90+ percent would decline in performance
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Im sceptical how damaging one season of missed football is though. Plenty of young players miss such periods because of injury and still become very good players. I’m not saying it won’t affect some but it’s something that would be nigh on impossible to measure I think.
 
Classical Mechanic said:
Im sceptical how damaging one season of missed football is though. Plenty of young players miss such periods because of injury and still become very good players. I’m not saying it won’t affect some but it’s something that would be nigh on impossible to measure I think.
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problem is. 1 year is a good estimate. And those young players, while injured for long didn't lose sight of the footballing life. He still goes to academy, he still watch football, he's still being coached etc. Lockdowns is a different animal


If the lock downs goes beyond June and head onto another season you can be clubs will start to release players.
 
I know I keep going on about it, but Liverpool fans must be very frustrated. This was their time to clean up. All their players in their peak and the rest of the teams in a rebuilding stage or just crap.
Every team has nothing to lose , Liverpool have nothing to gain from this. (On the pitch).
 
I think we should also talked about contracts, since we're talking about careers ending/starting.

I can see economic recession hits hard and this lead to clubs letting certain players (older players and those that are hit by corona) goes ending their career and all, etc.
 
Green_Red said:
You're over thinking it. Look at some of the older players in legends matches. Sure they are unfit but you can still see they have good touches, passing range, etc. Form is temporary, class is permanent.
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You are under thinking it, drastically. Older players in legends matches are surrounded by older players in legends matches.
 
It will certainly be difficult to keep fitness levels up in lockdown. You can run all you like, at home or outdoors, there is no substitute for games when it comes to match fitness. Older players might find it harder to get back up to the required levels and find that they're getting left behind sooner than they'd expected. At the same time, prolonged rest might actually help most players.

I doubt it will affect youngsters much. Their development will slow down but it's the same for all of them. It might even allow some to recover injuries instead of rushing back in fear of missing too much training time, that also applies to older players like Rashford. He will be able to fully fix his back now.
 
rcoobc said:
Ronaldo does a lot of good fitness himself. He'll be fine. Ibrahimovic is the same and he was mauradering around the world.

Age is a problem of course and the younger players will find it easier to get match fitness but I think Ronnie will be fine
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I don't think fitness will be an issue, it's the mental side I think he'll lose. His career is all behind him, and it won't take much for him to hang them up I reckon.
 
It might extend Rashford's career as he can take a proper break and not rush back from his injury to try to make the Euro squad.
 
Great question, airing on the positive side of the discussion I can see it doing wonders for the guys who play 90mins 50+ times a season for their club and then play every minute internationally too.
 
Camilo said:
I don't think fitness will be an issue, it's the mental side I think he'll lose. His career is all behind him, and it won't take much for him to hang them up I reckon.
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Ronaldo?
 
Teja said:
Would like to see some sources then.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hea...oronavirus/what-coronavirus-does-to-the-lungs
https://www.jpost.com/health-scienc...ng-damage-throughout-body-doctors-fear-625099
https://www.france24.com/en/2020040...coronavirus-complications-can-last-a-lifetime

If a player (or a young healthy person otherwise) is sick enough to end up on a ventilator, it can result in lasting lung damage. Even though the death rates are fairly low for young people, the hospitalization rates are still reasonably high (anywhere between 5-20% of those that get sick).
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Some people always have issues at the extreme end of the spectrum. I doubt there will be any significant number of people with lasting problems. No real evidence saying otherwise right? A few "might" articles, but they're always best ignored.
 
CM10 said:
Those matches don't have any kind of intensity. Any player playing in a top league will almost certainly be left behind if their fitness levels fall off a cliff.
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Do you think fitness cant be regained? Age is obviously a factor for retired players but young lads being out for a few months, come on now, catch a grip.
 
Bullhitter said:
You are under thinking it, drastically. Older players in legends matches are surrounded by older players in legends matches.
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No you're being completely daft. A couple of young lads not being able to train for a couple of months is not going to result in players not being good anymore. Get real.
 
Rish Sawhney said:
It might extend Rashford's career as he can take a proper break and not rush back from his injury to try to make the Euro squad.
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Van Persie had a similar injury and it is still sensitive in that area [MEN]. The pandemic has therefore probably saved Rashford from long term injury problems because I have no doubt either United or England would have rushed him back:
"I doubt I would have been 100 percent fit going into that tournament, or even finishing off the season, but that’s what we were aiming for. " [Mirror]
 
Josh 76 said:
I know I keep going on about it, but Liverpool fans must be very frustrated. This was their time to clean up. All their players in their peak and the rest of the teams in a rebuilding stage or just crap.
Every team has nothing to lose , Liverpool have nothing to gain from this. (On the pitch).
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Agreed, and the icing on the cake would be the Premier League ending this season without declaring a winner.
 
Green_Red said:
No you're being completely daft. A couple of young lads not being able to train for a couple of months is not going to result in players not being good anymore. Get real.
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You referenced older players by saying look at legends matches they still have their touch etc. Now you are moving the goal posts to "a couple of young lads". Young lads will be fine, their bodies can more naturally do the aspects a lengthy period of time without action hinders. Older players will take a lot more time to regain sharpness and agility and some will drop enough that they will not be able to get back to the level they were before the break.
 
Green_Red said:
Do you think fitness cant be regained? Age is obviously a factor for retired players but young lads being out for a few months, come on now, catch a grip.
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Of course, but that still takes time, even for young players. And older players who lose that extra yard of pace in that time may never fully recover.
 
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