Burnley's English manager Sean Dyche gestures on the touchline during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Tottenham at Turf Moor in Burnley, north west England on March 7, 2020. (LINDSEY PARNABY / AFP)
Premier League players will need time to find their feet once the top-flight season resumes and the uncertainty surrounding their fitness and mentality could lead to surprising results, Burnley manager Sean Dyche has said.
English soccer was halted in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic but clubs are training in small groups as part of the Premier League’s “Project Restart”, which envisages a return to play in June.
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You often notice that at the beginning of a season or the end of a season you get these odd results where teams are either finding their feet or playing out the season when other teams are fighting for something
Sean Dyche, Manager, Burnley
“You often notice that at the beginning of a season or the end of a season you get these odd results where teams are either finding their feet or playing out the season when other teams are fighting for something,” Dyche told Sky Sports.
“You can get these anomalies. Some teams are talking about the mentality of their players with this idea that some players do not want to play.
“I think that will probably dissipate eventually but you get to that first game and how focused is everyone going to be? That may give strange results.”
Matches are set to be played in empty stadiums when the season resumes and Dyche believes that is yet another challenge players will have to deal with.
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“...TV cameras will be there and there will be arguably even more people watching than ever before through the screen. So there will be that feeling in the background of the game, but it will be peculiar,” he added.
Burnley were tenth in the Premier League, six points behind fifth-placed Manchester United when the season was suspended.
