[Insert scenario here] is so much crazier in 2020, right? I’m sure we’re all getting a little annoyed at how repetitive that first question is. You see it everywhere because frankly, things are way more chaotic than usual. The first 9 months of the year really showed how globally unprepared we were for a pandemic. From our naivety in January and February when everyone joked about its spread until our own president contracting it this month, it’s clear we’re learning how to deal with this on the fly.
Sports in 2020 were no less crazy than the rest of the world. Remember that gap from March-May when there was absolutely nothing on? We had March Madness ripped away from us in that first week of intense COVID spreading, followed by other professional sports scrambling to make something of their season. The football world was the first to restart (should I get political and talk about Europe’s path to reopening after COVID vs America’s?) and in mid-May, we were watching the Bundesliga in Germany on live television. The majority of countries were able to finish out their seasons - Liverpool were finally crowned Premier League champions while Bayern Munich obliterated Barcelona 8-2 en route to claiming a well-deserved Champions League title.
How did “Project Restart” affect the season?
The final game of the 2019-2020 UEFA season ended on August 23. Given that the normal domestic season typically begins around mid-August, it was evident right away that the 2020-2021 season would be chaos, especially given the EURO 2020 tournament will now be played in summer 2021. This means that the normal schedule was altered and condensed to ensure the season could finish by next summer. Long story short, a 2-month delay is going to take an entire season to work through. Fortunately, since it was able to start earlier than American sports, the schedule is not too daunting and by next summer, things should be back to normal.
The Transfer Window
Quick prelude - this summer saw the rise of football’s now-beloved Fabrizio Romano. Like a “Woj bomb” or Adam Schefter being the face of NFL news, Romano’s “Here We Go!” became synonymous with a completed transfer. This dude hustled his ass off and I’m questioning if we’re worthy of such greatness.
Amongst the chaos that came with rescheduling an entire global calendar, the football world had to deal with adjusting the dates for the transfer window. This typically runs from July 1 - September 1. Given that the season didn’t end until August 23, it’s logical that the window was extended and didn’t end eight days later. However, teams had different strategies for adding new players. Chelsea had already agreed to sign 2 new players for the season before COVID put a pause on everything. Other teams may have been close to signing players that fell through because of finances. Whatever the case, COVID put a huge wrench in the plans of most (if not all) organizations.
Since the window has reopened, we’ve seen just how truly powerful the world’s elite clubs are. If I would’ve written this post a month ago, I would’ve talked about how a team like Chelsea is ruining football. While lesser teams are having to save all their money and/or sell players instead of buying new ones, it makes it all the harder to compete when you have a team like Chelsea that can afford to spend over 200 million pounds in a single summer. I was going to talk about how bad that is for the parity of the game, until my favorite team in Tottenham started doing the same (to a lesser degree). We’ve had our most expensive and successful transfer window this summer in club history and I can’t help but feel we took advantage of having more financial power due to COVID (granted, some of our signings came from large clubs).
What should they do differently?
I’ve written other blogs in the past to help increase parity in Europe’s biggest leagues. Unfortunately, I’m just a fun-time blogger and no one with any authority will read this, but it’s fun to consider anyway! While it may sound unpopular, if I’m FIFA, I implement some sort of transfer cap or net spend cap. It never feels fair anyway, but especially this year, it just isn’t right that Tottenham, Chelsea, City, and other massive clubs can go off buying whoever they please while a team like Burnley can only sign a player for a million pounds despite their longevity in the Premier League.
In the time I wrote this, I think Chelsea just made another signing. COVID’s impact is worse the smaller the club is. In a season where there will already be more games played in a shorter span than usual, why would we allow the clubs affected the least by COVID to reap the biggest advantages? I’m not saying I have the answer to the rapidly-evolving transfer market, I just have long-term concerns about seeing the same teams succeed over and over again. I’d rather Tottenham finish tenth if it means the league has more parity rather than just seeing us buy our way to success (Would I actually? Probably not lol).
Author: Living in Southern California, Robert Sweeney has been a fan of soccer since he played as a young child. Since then, he’s become a diehard Tottenham and US National Team fan. Rob enjoys writing about the impact soccer has had on his life in hopes that it betters others as well. Twitter: @robsweeney11