Danny Welbeck sustained a "significant" right ankle injury during Thursday's Europa League game against Sporting Lisbon, ……Welbeck, who was injured when he jumped for a header and landed badly on his right ankle,…….. OK it adds a bit of colour and helps distinguish a player on the pitch or a long shot running down the wing from a camera 60 or 70 m away BUT is it fashion over sensibility? My first pair of "proper football boots" were leather, laced up around the ankles and gave good support when kicking a leather ball that often 10 minutes into a rain affected game would weigh about 7 or 8 lbs! NOW THEY ARE LIKE FLIMSY SLIP ON's! It is only when a prominent player in a prominent game gets such an injury that it is headlines! Every week in the top 7 divisions 1 or 2 suffer similar if not quite so severe injuries occur! In my favourite hobby, I always used to wear hobnail /steel toe capped boots, after a break of a few years went back to the hobby to find that pretty almost everyone was wearing wellies! whilst they gave protection against water up to 15" deep or great for splashing across bogs where the feet sunk in about a 12" [ was going to say a foot! ] but where manouvering over rocky ground was required actually gave no support. Is the lack of ankle support detrimental / allows more ankle leg injuries
Hob nailed boots are probably the answer John but I do remember getting a clout from them in the farmyard kick around and it split my big toe bone lengthwise and I still suffer today. Or am I just getting old and miserable?
I have an opinion they do because the achilles is less protected - New boot design often incorporates a sock in that area/lightweight design v padding. I have not seen any data to confirm that as fact. Where modern boots x facilities is causing injury is around ligament injury. There are studies linking this to bladed boots and astro turf. Playing/training long term on astro turf can be problematic. The pitches are harder than grass (summer apart).
