Injuries seem more frequent with footballers

If anything is causing injuries it'll be the way we defend, not attack. The high press, pressing triggers etc mean players are doing a lot more running in total and a lot more sprints than they used to. That is happening at all teams, not just us of course.

It might not cause specific injuries but just using the body more in total must increase the total risk. Same way as driving every car in stop start traffic for 100k miles will see every car having more problems than driving 80k motorway miles and they will be a range of different problems, including the higher risk of being in a collision.
 
The likelihood of injuries in football can be illustrated by imagining two extremely fit young men repeatedly running into each other at full speed over a period of ninety minutes. As general fitness levels in the game rise, the more likely players are to get injured. I think it was Lee Dixon who said that during his career he was only ever completely injury free for maybe three or four games a season.

This was also illustrated when rugby union became a professional sport. In the old days, when everyone was an amateur, players would only train a couple of times a week because everyone had to work. Because fitness levels were generally lower, the game was slower and there were fewer injuries. Now that players are professional, they train much more and are consequently fitter and stronger. The game has become much faster and harder and the level of injuries has consequently risen to the point where many people, including people inside the game, think that rugby union in its present form is becoming too dangerous.
 
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JonJon said:
The likelihood of injuries in football can be illustrated by imagining two extremely fit young men repeatedly running into each other at full speed over a period of ninety minutes. As general fitness levels in the game rise, the more likely players are to get injured. I think it was Lee Dixon who said that during his career he was only ever completely injury free for maybe three or four games a season.

This was also illustrated when rugby union became a professional sport. In the old days, when everyone was an amateur, players would only train a couple of times a week because everyone had to work. Because fitness levels were generally lower, the game was slower and there were fewer injuries. Now that players are professional, they train much more and are consequently fitter and stronger. The game has become much faster and harder and the level of injuries has consequently risen to the point where many people, including people inside the game, think that rugby union in its present form is becoming too dangerous.
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Great input Cheers Jon
 
Paulroddam7 said:
With players being so much more valuable there aren’t as many risks taken. I imagine players end up missing games now with things they wouldn’t even have considered an injury.
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Lot of truth in this I reckon.
I remember players used to regularly get cortisone injections to be able to play, with terrible long term effects. Are they still a thing?
With all the analysis now available they will no doubt be rested as a precaution if anything shows up. Their return will be more managed than the player insisting "I'm ok now boss".
 
Players more attuned to their body and clubs/physios etc reluctant to play multi million pound assets when injured. Riley Mcgree for example would have had a few pain killing injections and told to get on with and played plenty this season if he'd have had his issue back in the 90's
 
Rofesleg said:
Lot of truth in this I reckon.
I remember players used to regularly get cortisone injections to be able to play, with terrible long term effects. Are they still a thing?
With all the analysis now available they will no doubt be rested as a precaution if anything shows up. Their return will be more managed than the player insisting "I'm ok now boss".
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In the new Football Manager, which may not be 100% accurate, they still offer you the chance of giving players an injection to get through the next game but they warn that it could make the injury worse. My guess is players might have it if there is a specific game they don't want to miss or it's near the end of the season. I know we've had players playing with things like hernias that needed an operation and other small operations that they tend to leave until summer so issues like that which might need painkillers to get through games probably still occurs.
 
It's certainly a lot different these days. When I was a kid i.e. back in the 70's teams would go through a whole season and use only 13 or 14 players. No doubt people carried injuries, there was only one substitute and less suspensions - you nearly had to kill someone to get sent off!
 
Corcaigh_the_Cat said:
Sunderland had a dreadful record last season, we have this season. It's the way it goes sometimes. We've just been particularly unlucky.
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Apart from us there seems to be alot of other clubs struggling with not just short term lay offs but weeks and months at a time. Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Spurs and Man u have all had issues this season.

Maybe just coincidence but certainly does seem more widespread this season.
 
Our injuries have been so varied this season.

For a good chunk of Carrick’s tenure, we kept the squad relatively injury free. They started creeping in March / April time, and IMO, cost us promotion last season.

We got injuries to key players (Howson, Forss, Ramsey, McGree) at a key stage. Some of those guys missed the play offs, but it also left Carrick with a selection headache in the lead up the play offs as he was conscious of keeping players fresh but we lost a bit of form and momentum.

This season has been a mixed bag. Smiths was very in innocuous, as was McGree.

Lenihans seemed to come out of nowhere.

The key ones to get back for me are McGree, Hackney and Forss who’ll offer us more versatility. O’Brien could be like a new signing for us too.

We’re desperate for a RB in January.

I think most sides in this division would really struggle with the level of injuries we’ve had so far. Hopefully things pick up next year in time for the run in.
 
Ian Bairds Ears said:
That is next level and has blown my tiny former Sunday league mind !!!😄
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Yeah it’s cool isn’t it. I can’t remember the exact player but Arsenal springs to mind, maybe the Japanese right back? It came up in an interview anyway. That’s why they all wear those sports bra tracking things at training and the data is analysed to death.

It’s a funny thing though about players always being a little bit injured. If I go to the gym every day I’m objectively fitter, but always have a niggle somewhere or other. Can imagine these guys who are peak performance athletes are always carrying some kind of injury with how relentlessly they push their bodies.
 
Rofesleg said:
I remember players used to regularly get cortisone injections to be able to play, with terrible long term effects. Are they still a thing?
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Fernando Torres, 2010 World Cup.

There’s an amazing Spanish documentary about that tournament with fascinating interviews with all the players, very close access and very honest. Torres had a serious knee injury, docs told him no way could he play and should be out for months. In the doco he talks about how he said he’s playing no matter what because this is his chance to win a World Cup. Docs said they could give him injections now, but it will take 5 years off his career. He said, I’m playing, I don’t care, I’ll take that deal.

Look at his career before and after. He got his World Cup, but can’t imagine Chelsea were very happy with his decision.

Can find the link if anyone’s interested, it’s one of the best football documentaries I’ve seen.
 
fmttmadmin said:
Carrick has said they have been closely analysing everything but injuries have been such a variety, not just parts of body, foot, back, heel etc but contact and non contact, muscular and not. So, hard to find any trends etc. I guess we are nothing like as bad as Newcastle but seem far worse than Warnock's Boro for instance.
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I`ve posted all relevant [Michael Carrick] comments, verbatim, from transcripts of the last eight matches - including some more expansive paragraphs [discussions published online from the public Media Conferences].
Carrick isnt a medical professional, but he understands football injuries.(y)
 
The Ruthsayer said:
That’s right, because the likes of Lionel Messi, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams and Sergio Aguero are regularly injured.
I’m not bothering to post links to all the reports that show how much healthier a vegan diet is than one that contains meat or fish, because you need to do the research yourself.
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Your not going to bother posting the links.. because they are just that.. unrelated stories and data.
 
The Ruthsayer said:
That’s right, because the likes of Lionel Messi, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, Venus Williams and Sergio Aguero are regularly injured.
I’m not bothering to post links to all the reports that show how much healthier a vegan diet is than one that contains meat or fish, because you need to do the research yourself.
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How do you know if someone is a vegan?
 
newyddion said:
Your not going to bother posting the links.. because they are just that.. unrelated stories and data.
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Not unrelated Newyddion. You suggested that a vegan diet may lead to more injuries, which directly contradicts the empirical medical data.
I’m not sure how this could be considered unrelated, but I’m willing to learn.
 
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