Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands has admitted it will be “difficult” to keep fans away from stadiums should the Premier League return.
England’s top-flight has been suspended for nearly two months after it became apparent football could not continue during the Coronavirus epidemic.
Several deadlines for it to return have already been missed, with football chiefs currently trying to work out a safe way for football to be played.
One proposal is that the clubs play out their final games behind closed doors at neutral venues so that fans cannot congregate outside stadiums.
This is a plan the Everton chief seems in favour of, citing the upcoming Merseyside derby as an example of why it is hard to work out a strategy.
“They are already much further there,” he told RKC Waalwijk’s Youtube Channel, relayed by Brabants Dagblad.
“It’s possible (they’ll return) with matches without an audience in neutral stadiums.
“We have yet to play the derby against Liverpool. Then it is difficult to keep people away from the stadium.
“You don’t have that problem if you start playing in Southampton, for example, five hours away.”
While contending with all the problems caused by COVID-19, Brands has also had to deal with issues in Everton’s squad.
Chief among them was an incident involving Moise Kean, who was heavily criticised after it was revealed he had broken lockdown rules to hold a party in his house, something which was widely shared on social media.
It’s since been revealed that came about as a result of the Everton striker misunderstanding the rules, something he’s apologised for.
It’s believed that Everton, primarily Brands and Carlo Ancelotti, have drawn a line under the incident and the Dutchman moved to defender the 19-year-old when asked about it.
“The boy lives alone in England. Then you are going to miss things,” he added.
“That’s why he invited some people to his home. We at Everton have now divided the players among the staff.
“Each coach has three or four players under his wing.”
