First it was at Tottenham, then Brentford, then Manchester United. Then a further six matches called off as the eerily familiar snowball starts to tumble. In total, nine Premier League games have already had to be postponed this week because of the escalating COVID-19 crisis and, while the Premier League insists that, for now, the season must go on, Brentford manager Thomas Frank is not the only one asking whether a circuit-breaker—a full stoppage for all to recalibrate—may be necessary.
The scale of the omicron crisis has taken football by surprise. The case rate in the U.