'Everyone needs to be ready so that when the health advice says resume, we can resume straight away.'
Yet as thousands of footballers, from the highest levels to the lower leagues, remain on lockdown while coronavirus spreads across Europe, all of them are tasked with keeping themselves fit, as well as entertained.
But within football, the absence of a deadline only enhances the sense of urgency. In theory, the season could restart in a matter of weeks and clubs are determined to be ready."We might finish the 2019/20 season and then roll into 2020/21 without any break at all."It means fitness coaches and club doctors are creating week-to-week conditioning programmes, personalised for individual players, explained through Whatsapp and Skype, and dependent on both technology and trust.
"Players know if they don't do their job they will be at a clear disadvantage against their teammates when normal training resumes," Alvarez says. In France, Lyon have told their players to rest until March 24, while in Spain, Atletico Madrid have done tactical work, with video meetings held between players and coaches to reinforce key messages.Like most clubs, they deliver meals devised by their nutritionists but players also choose between options for lunch and dinner, which they then eat at the same time as their teammates.
"Some of our foreign guys have missed the opportunity to go home," Brighton's Murray said."It's extremely difficult for them."
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