11 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

He's just far too top heavy and hasn't rehabilitated his hamstring at all. 

It's a bit of a myth that being "top-heavy" leads to more injuries or that being muscluar makes you slow. Both speed and strength come from muscle mass, if you don't have it, you won't be fit or fast.

The single biggest predictor of injury in young players is intensity. James has been playing regularly at the top level of football since he was 20 years old, much like Mason Mount. His body is not conditioned to handle that stress. It can be managed, but it's impossible to do without him doing some serious gym time and dropping his playing minutes.

For young players these days, who are expected to be guaranteed starters before 24 years old, it is Russian roulette hoping they never have a career threatening injury. 

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

According to Lamps James will not require surgery. Makes you wonder if he is refusing to have the procedure. Prior to this season he was missing 33% of games, with his season ended now this has gone up to 58% missed. 

Yeah we tried that approach with Kante, in the end surgery was needed.

He is well on his way to becoming our Ledley King.

Tweaked his hamstring in training yesterday. 

A.) Why is he doing intense training when he was already recovering from a hamstring injury?

B.) Why do they still persist on he doesn't need surgery?

I thought we'd accepted he was out for the rest of the season so he could get proper treatment for this and be ready for pre-season - why would we rush him back for the final game, a completely meaningless fixture? Madness.

On 25/04/2023 at 15:20, nonotnowjim said:

His body cannot be relied upon. A liability at the moment and unreliable.

Been that way most of the season.

Just hope he does not have IBS as that may prevent him losing weight.

I know a couple that had the surgery and ended up with colostomy bags, both regretted it. 

 

2 hours ago, Remy10 said:

I thought we'd accepted he was out for the rest of the season so he could get proper treatment for this and be ready for pre-season - why would we rush him back for the final game, a completely meaningless fixture? Madness.

Ditto.

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Tweaked his hamstring in training yesterday. 

A.) Why is he doing intense training when he was already recovering from a hamstring injury?

B.) Why do they still persist on he doesn't need surgery?

He was listed as out for the season with the hammy. Ruled out of the England squad for the hammy. It beggars belief. Did he have a recurrence of the knee problem this season or am I imagining it? Last season surgeons ruled out the need for knee surgery. Knees and hammies can be related (apart from their obvious proximity to each other!)

He's doing to be one of those "what if" players, whose careers are ruined by injuries. Real shame.

We'll be going into pre-season with these players still injured, f**king up yet another season.

46 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

We'll be going into pre-season with these players still injured, f**king up yet another season.

Could be, Badiashile will be missing we know that.

We are going to be playing 1 game a week and will likely still have amongst the most injuries. 

This is INSANE.

We’re happy to give James 250k a week or whatever it is, and he can’t even stay fit.

And we refuse to give Mount the same. Ridiculous

1 hour ago, Term_X said:

This is INSANE.

Which player is this for?

2 hours ago, just said:

Which player is this for?

Reece James. And yes, looking at that list.. you would think this was for multiple players but no, just Reece.. astounding. 

Gusto signing beginning to look like a master stroke now.

On 26/04/2023 at 10:25, SydneyChelsea said:

It's a bit of a myth that being "top-heavy" leads to more injuries or that being muscluar makes you slow. Both speed and strength come from muscle mass, if you don't have it, you won't be fit or fast.

This is not how it works. There is a reason almost no footballer is built like Reece James. Every pound of weight that you have to carry around is a strain on your joints, bones, muscles. If Reece lost some of the muscle mass he would definitely have a better chance to stay healthy. Upper body strength doesn`t make you fast, it slows you down when running because it adds mass and you obviously don`t run with your arms or chest. Look at how body builders are built, then look how professional track athletes are built.

I have no idea why Reece decided it was a good idea to become so bulky but whoever is in charge of our medical team should definitely encourage him to become less bulky and more lean. It`s a no brainer really.

The way things are looking at the moment I have to suspect that Reece will never be able to stay injury-free for more than a few weeks/months. It`s very sad. He is insanely talented but his body just can`t be relied upon.

16 hours ago, Remy10 said:

I thought we'd accepted he was out for the rest of the season so he could get proper treatment for this and be ready for pre-season - why would we rush him back for the final game, a completely meaningless fixture? Madness.

I also don`t get it. It`s laughable how our club is run this season.

Genuine question....should we sell him?

I am quite frustrated by:

- his injury record, which is now far to common to be coincidental. He is injury prone and building a team around players who are often injured is very risky.

- his tendency to phone in his performances, especially this season. Where is the passion? the effort ? the urgency?

- He can be a genuinely brilliant wing back. Will we be playing wing back under Pochettino? 

 

I am not saying we should sell - but for a player that has a lot of warning signs, but who is an asset that would take us in some cash, or perhaps needs to be considered and talked about. 

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

Genuine question....should we sell him?

I am quite frustrated by:

- his injury record, which is now far to common to be coincidental. He is injury prone and building a team around players who are often injured is very risky.

- his tendency to phone in his performances, especially this season. Where is the passion? the effort ? the urgency?

- He can be a genuinely brilliant wing back. Will we be playing wing back under Pochettino? 

 

I am not saying we should sell - but for a player that has a lot of warning signs, but who is an asset that would take us in some cash, or perhaps needs to be considered and talked about. 

I wouldn't sell him.

When fit he is amongst the very few close to world class player we have. He's also only 23, if he was the wrong side of 20 I would be more inclined to agree. 

1 hour ago, nonotnowjim said:

Genuine question....should we sell him?

I am quite frustrated by:

- his injury record, which is now far to common to be coincidental. He is injury prone and building a team around players who are often injured is very risky.

- his tendency to phone in his performances, especially this season. Where is the passion? the effort ? the urgency?

- He can be a genuinely brilliant wing back. Will we be playing wing back under Pochettino? 

 

I am not saying we should sell - but for a player that has a lot of warning signs, but who is an asset that would take us in some cash, or perhaps needs to be considered and talked about. 

No way. It’s not even debatable imo. 

Kyle Walker started his career with loads of injuries iirc. He's been able to prolong his career because of it. (not getting burned out). 

My issue is the rehabilitation plan with James, per my post above. 

6 hours ago, nonotnowjim said:

Genuine question....should we sell him?

I am quite frustrated by:

- his injury record, which is now far to common to be coincidental. He is injury prone and building a team around players who are often injured is very risky.

- his tendency to phone in his performances, especially this season. Where is the passion? the effort ? the urgency?

- He can be a genuinely brilliant wing back. Will we be playing wing back under Pochettino? 

 

I am not saying we should sell - but for a player that has a lot of warning signs, but who is an asset that would take us in some cash, or perhaps needs to be considered and talked about. 

All comes down to price, how bad our FFP situation is, and if we can return to being a elite side soon or if this is our level for a few years at least.

In the past we could say we were one of the elite (still lost Robben and Hazard but was rare) and Roman had the debt on him so we did not need to sell.

Now we have FFP issues, and are not an elite side. Big club still yes, elite side nowhere near. 

So if an elite side (City, Real) offered say 120mill for James, then I think we may have to take it.

El Capitano having a field day on twitter.

Posted this on insta tonight.