As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape our world, those who follow and are part of MLS can’t help but wonder when games will return.
That eventuality could occur behind closed doors, heeding advice of public health and medical officials. Tightly packing tens of thousands of fans into stands with the looming danger of the novel coronavirus is, in a word, dangerous.
That situation – playing without fans – isn’t ideal, according to FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez. But it’s also better than nothing.
“If that’s what we have to do to take steps to earn being together in a real fan environment with full stadiums, that’s what we’re going to do,” Gonzalez said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. “We’re going to do it with a lot of pride. Although it’s not ideal, it’s still better than the situation we are in right now where we’re not even able to train together.”
If that comes around, Gonzalez noted that fans tuning in on TVs, smartphones and tablets would experience something different. The profanities and trash talk you only catch if you have sideline seats? They could echo into your living room.
“There’s a lot of things being said between the players and staff that you don’t hear in the live game because of the audio being absorbed with the fans,” Gonzalez said. “But that’s going to be a new experience that we’re goin to have to manage. You’ll see the fire, you’ll see the competitive nature of all the players. They’re going to want to win.”
Gonzalez’s remarks come after LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said “a game without fans has no soul.” Asked about that remark, Gonzalez didn’t go to such an extreme..
“I wouldn’t say you completely lose our soul or the game will lose its soul, but part of it, it’ll lose part of its soul,” Gonzalez said. “I think we still love this game, even in the preseason when we have no fans and we’re playing against Inter Miami or Philly or Vancouver. We want to give it our best and we want to play for the jersey.”
The looming possibility comes as MLS released a statement Tuesday saying it’s "extremely unlikely" that games will return in mid-May. But when that return does arrive, Gonzalez has a sense of what challenges await – even if some emotions can’t quite be replicated.
“It’s going to be a challenge of can we cover the same distance, can we exert the same physical and emotional energy as a game with a full stadium?,” Gonzalez posed. “We’re not going to know that until we actually go through this experience, but I know our boys will try."
