There was much made about the possible dangers of footballers spreading the virus if they started playing football again, but the bi-weekly tests for all players and staff are showing very minimal numbers of positive infections and the players are much more relaxed about any dangers to themselves or their families.
Bernd Leno, for one, is very keen to get things moving again, despite the restrictions. He told SkySports: “Everyone is getting more excited [about the season beginning].
“I’m looking forward and probably everybody in the world is looking forward that Premier League football is going back at least to something like normal.
“Everything will be new at the beginning with the match-day protocols. But it was the same with training and you get used to it. And we’re all glad we can do what we love and play football again.
“I’m sure that everything will go in a good way and that everything will go smoothly like in Germany. We as players have a good feeling that everything is safe.”
Bernd is also unfazed by us restarting against Man City at the Etihad, and thinks the team is ready to hit the ground running and is geared up mentally for playing behind closed doors. “We are prepared for the situation without the fans, we have worked during the break on our mindset and our leadership,” he continued.
“We can surprise City because nobody has the rhythm. I’m sure we can have a good start. Mikel (Arteta) knows every player and he knows the manager better than anyone.
“I think Mikel will have a good game-plan and at this level we think we are a very good team.”
That’s the spirit Bernd, and as for the teams being safe, I don’t think we need to worry about the players, it is the fans that could be causing the problems!
