Although it will have come as a bitter blow to many, one Man United player had words of advice ready once he’d heard that the season had been cancelled for the club’s U23 and academy sides.
Marcus Rashford is one of the most recent players to graduate from Carrington and make it all of the way up into the first team, and so when he speaks, people listen, particularly if they’re youngsters at the Red Devils who are looking to follow in the England international’s footsteps.
“The news you got yesterday was probably not what you wanted to hear,” Rashford wrote in a tweet.
“I know all you want to do is play because I’m the same but the decision has been made to protect everyone involved. This is bigger than football.
“You might be feeling a bit low but the best thing you can do is pick up your ball and get out in the garden. When I was in the academy I used to find a spot in the garden and aim for targets just so I could practice my accuracy, get creative!
“Now is not the time to fall out of love with the game, it’s a time to remember why you fell in love with it in the first place. You’ve got this and we can’t wait to see you all back next season.”
To the Academy Players ? pic.twitter.com/PgszKFuatu
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) May 2, 2020
With the coronavirus situation still evolving on a daily basis, there’s no guarantee at this stage that the Premier League campaign will restart, and it’s entirely possible that elite level football might have to take a back seat until later in the year.
As Rashford eloquently articulated, however, the current pandemic is indeed bigger than football and we’ll all just have to wait and see what is decided by the government and the Premier League authorities in due course.