On 01/01/2024 at 19:32, Frankie8Lampard said:

Wow thats a lot of injuries

I seem to remember reading our record was 14 injured at one point under Potter.

I get that there are a lot of injuries but, unpopular as it may be to say this, modern day footballers are a bunch of pussies. 

Lavia came back for a bit of one game and is now out with bruising. What? Seriously,  a fking bruise? A bruise, even on the bone is uncomfortable but it's not an injury. I walked around last week with a big blister on the ball of my foot, right near my big toe. Uncomfortable, hurt like hell and made it awkward to walk at times. It weren't a fking injury though. Jeez.

We look at these stats and I wonder if it is any different really after all. So not talking donkeys years ago, case balls, chopper Harris and all that stuff, just talking about the most recently retired generation, Neville, Keane, Sheringham, Shearer, Henry etc. They will generally agree that the vast majority of footballers are always 70% fit throughout their careers at best. Players are always carrying something. It's sport, it's contact, its physical.

I just wonder if its always been this way but nowadays this lot are wrapped in bubble wrap where the slightest thing is a major issue. It's not a major injury needing a 6 week reconditioning course, he's got a touch of the farmer Giles, pad up, grow a pair and get out there.

Of course there will be some real and serious issues, there always has been, but I do think there seems to be a whole soap opera developing around a lot of this. What it does say to me is that Al, this taking 3 months to make sure the players are at peak fitness is pointless cos they break down immediately again by the standards of the level that the bar is being set at.

Edited January 6, 20242 yr by WhiteWall

I wouldn't say they are pussies, but players definitely aren't playing with injuries that they once would play through, though I expect that entirely down to the medical teams decisions rather than players sh*tting out of games.

There's a huge amount of data now that's reviewed and decisions made on, all thys red zone fitness stuff etc.

23 minutes ago, dkw said:

I wouldn't say they are pussies, but players definitely aren't playing with injuries that they once would play through, though I expect that entirely down to the medical teams decisions rather than players sh*tting out of games.

There's a huge amount of data now that's reviewed and decisions made on, all thys red zone fitness stuff etc.

I agree, the pussies comment was just to grab people's attention 

The problem with this environment if you reduce the tolerance bar then you have the positive effect of putting players on the pitch at maximum peak fitness, but the converse effect will be a larger population of players that don't reach the threshold and therefore are out injured that players throughout time have played through.

30 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

I agree, the pussies comment was just to grab people's attention 

The problem with this environment if you reduce the tolerance bar then you have the positive effect of putting players on the pitch at maximum peak fitness, but the converse effect will be a larger population of players that don't reach the threshold and therefore are out injured that players throughout time have played through.

And you can wonder how wise that was. I remember reports from former players - who had to retire earlier than nowadays BTW - that at 40 they couldn't even play with their kids anymore.

On 18/10/2023 at 13:27, Modueke said:

Should just get Eva back!

I was just thinking it was never this bad before she left...

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

And you can wonder how wise that was. I remember reports from former players - who had to retire earlier than nowadays BTW - that at 40 they couldn't even play with their kids anymore.

Yes, you are correct there Val, particularly with repetitive damage on susceptible areas of the body. But there remains a middle ground, whereby  players for years have played with niggles and not being at peak fitness. It will have an effect on their bodies over time but all competitive sportsmen will suffer some consequences from their lives of sport whether it is Robert Green or Tom Daley for example.

My point here is that if historically the general threshold is a level of 20% deterioration on peak fitness and in modern times that has dropped to a 5% deterioration it could explain why there are so many injured players. Maybe there always was.

Think we are just unlucky. 

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Think we are just unlucky. 

For 3 years straight?

I'm starting to think @WhiteWall is on to something. Players that would in the past play on with some of their knocks are no longer doing it. 

Just now, Scott Harris said:

For 3 years straight?

I'm starting to think @WhiteWall is on to something. Players that would in the past play on with some of their knocks are no longer doing it. 

I don't think there's any doubt, bigger squads has led to players resting and  missing games with slight knocks they used to play with, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as gone are the days of cortisone injections and strapping up tight to "blind" injuries.

I have proplems in both my knees and achilles through ignoring injuries, I have mates who played pro and semi pro sports who are having operations almost annually to fix horrendous problems. Player welfare is taken more seriously now and rightly so.

1 minute ago, dkw said:

I don't think there's any doubt, bigger squads has led to players resting and  missing games with slight knocks they used to play with, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as gone are the days of cortisone injections and strapping up tight to "blind" injuries.

I have proplems in both my knees and achilles through ignoring injuries, I have mates who played pro and semi pro sports who are having operations almost annually to fix horrendous problems. Player welfare is taken more seriously now and rightly so.

I knew you were an elite sportsman @dkw !

I was just thinking about bigger squads too. No need to risk a slightly injured player, when there's someone fit to take their place. The paper cut can heal properly then 🙂

Ha ha, that's one thing I've never been called.

Only sport I do now is squash, and I need ibuprofen and strapping to get through that.

Edited January 6, 20242 yr by dkw

5 minutes ago, dkw said:

Ha ha, that's one thing I've never been called.

Only sport I do now is squash, and I need ibuprofen and strapping to get through that.

Squash is exhausting, especially when you have no technique. Or talent. I just happen to know that 

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

Squash is exhausting, especially when you have no technique. Or talent. I just happen to know that 

Ha ha, true. I play against a lad 10 years younger than me, I'm better than him but he's fitter so it equal out a bit. He's never beaten me in games yet though, but most are close.

40 minutes ago, dkw said:

Ha ha, true. I play against a lad 10 years younger than me, I'm better than him but he's fitter so it equal out a bit. He's never beaten me in games yet though, but most are close.

He is shattered by the time he runs round you.

9 minutes ago, loz said:

He is shattered by the time he runs round you.

Hey, I completely resemble that remark....

 

Another one for the list....

 

 

.....WTM hand after Brojas goal, has a hole to fill in his wall apparently now too.

3 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

For 3 years straight?

I'm starting to think @WhiteWall is on to something. Players that would in the past play on with some of their knocks are no longer doing it. 

I use to think there was something wrong with us but now it's happening to more than half the league, think the insane schedule since lockdown is truly catching up.

We probably started having the issues before others as we went deep in competitions in 21 and 22, the latter we were in 6 competitions and played all bar 3 potential games.

13 minutes ago, Argo said:

I use to think there was something wrong with us but now it's happening to more than half the league, think the insane schedule since lockdown is truly catching up.

We probably started having the issues before others as we went deep in competitions in 21 and 22, the latter we were in 6 competitions and played all bar 3 potential games.

I think it's a combination of both. Too much football and players not playing with certain injuries anymore. I would rather we tackle the too much football aspect of the game. The schedule is a complete mess these days.

Nkunku is out injured with a hip injury now, it’s beyond a joke.

Makes you appreciate the players that are always available !

Avoiding injury is as much of a skill as anything else these days !

Just read the updates on Nkunku and it seems like another injury...

It's really disappointing, our players can't recover.. 

2 hours ago, ducavis said:

Nkunku is out injured with a hip injury now, it’s beyond a joke.

I voiced concerns about his injury record when we brought him. Looks like another one made of glass. Good player but nothing to suggest he is going to put a long run of games together before yet another injury.

14 hours ago, dkw said:

Ha ha, true. I play against a lad 10 years younger than me, I'm better than him but he's fitter so it equal out a bit. He's never beaten me in games yet though, but most are close.

The master of the drop shot 😀

3 minutes ago, strider6004 said:

The master of the drop shot 😀

Damn right, on the 'T' making him do the running.

Also changed the ball to double yellow to help me out, he's not noticed yet 😅

Edited January 7, 20242 yr by dkw