Collymore wants to get every Premier League side onto the same number of games played.
Former Aston Villa striker Stan Collymore believes Aston Villa could have fulfilled their fixture against Sheffield United last weekend.
The Premier League enforced a hiatus until early April at the earliest but Collymore wants to find a way for all the clubs to get to the same number of games played – 29.
In the Daily Mirror, Collymore said: “My solution for the Premier League would be to get all 20 teams to 29 games as quickly as possible. It would take just two matches – Sheffield United versus Aston Villa and Manchester City versus Arsenal.
“The Blades and the Villans could even have played behind closed doors this weekend, given that no one from either side has tested positive.”
It is common consensus that the right decision was made on postponing the Premier League, because playing behind closed doors doesn’t stop the players from infecting each other.
Wayne Rooney in the Times articulated the fears of players about carrying on playing while other sports were being shut down.
The Premier League couldn’t have asked that some players put themselves at risk while the majority were not playing just because of pot luck with how the fixtures have fallen at the time of the postponement.
Essentially, Villa’s reward for reaching the EFL Cup final – which is the reason that came was postponed – would have been playing in the midst of a global health crisis. Collymore’s idea is not a good one.
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