Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho says it is important for football to return and that players must give back to fans during this trying period.
Top-level football in England has been put on hold since the middle of March due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has resulted in more than 270,000 people in the UK contracting the disease and close to 40,000 losing their lives.
Amid tight hygiene restrictions and regular health checks, Premier League clubs have stepped up their training regimes with a view to returning to action on June 17. While concerns have been raised in some quarters, Mourinho says it is the right time for play to resume.
“We shouldn’t be selfish, we shouldn’t demand too much. It’s our time to give,” he told Spurs TV.
“For example, when players play Euros and World Cups, they barely have a holiday, they don’t have pre-season, they come direct from holiday and sometimes they train less than a week to play the first Premier League match.
“At this moment, people are worried about trying to have what they never have. For example, speaking about pre-season injuries, there are pre-season injuries. Everyone has pre-season injuries in normal seasons, so we cannot expect now not to have an injury here, an injury there.
“We cannot ask for more than the authorities are giving us, which is the maximum security, and I think now it’s time just to play and to give people what people want.”
The experienced Portuguese, meanwhile, admitted that there was a period when he held doubts that the season would even finish.
“There was a moment we were all scared about when we would start. Is the season is over?” he said. “Next season will start September, October, November… who knows? But then less doubts, less doubts, less doubts and now it feels like it’s coming. We want to play.
“You look to other countries, Germany, they have already played matches, Portugal starts this weekend, Spain next weekend, football is coming everywhere.
"We used to be the football that never stops, even in periods like Christmas – we are the league for the world and it feels a bit strange that we’re not playing but we are waiting patiently for the green light to go.”