I've looked, but can´t find any info on who is out and their supposed return. Has anyone seen aything about this?
We seem to pick up one or two a game or someone comes back but gets re-injured so the club probably aren’t certain themselves!
The trouble is that Watford don't like to give out good information. At the weekly press conference he is asked about injuries and gives out some info. Social media is the best place to guess when players will be back, if a player is shown in the gym = 6-8 weeks. Player training on their own = 4-6 weeks. Player rejoins squad = 3-4 weeks. That means none of the long term injured will be around until at least after the World Cup or January. Hope that's given you confidence Andrew French on Twitter is good: Davis out of action tomorrow, hip injury, SB hopes he’ll be back for Cardiff. Club captain Tom Cleverley out “for a long while” after Achilles’ operation. Fuller injury news later on @Observer_Owl #watfordfc
Given the increase in substitutes, the lack of cup replays, the removal of two-legged league cup games (and extra time in those matches), players today actually play fewer game minutes than in the past. It's only really the very elite players who might play more with international football and the bloated UEFA club competitions. Add in improvements in the quality of pitches, training, nutrition, medical and physio care etc., and referees generally allowing less contact, you would expect fewer injures than, say, 25 years ago. Is it just fitter and stronger players going harder than in the past? Or is it players not playing through the pain anymore?
It is the Medical Teams If a player is worth £20m - £50m no way is that player going to be risked if they are not 100%n fit and any minor niggle will be treated as an injury and the Head Coach (not Manager) is not going to change that The days of a CF or CH (no matter how vital to the team that player is) getting a pain killing injection to play in a vital match are long, long gone Good for the players and their long term health, but frustrating for the fans and the team management
In GT,s time at Watford players had to be fit and strong enough to run/win a marathon These days they have to be able to compete in/win a 100m race but also win a marathon and the muscles and tendons are too finely tuned, like an F1 car driving in London through the rush hour
I agree. Players have different demands placed on them these days and so the game asks for different beasts.
It would be interesting to see a graph of the increase in incidence of injuries over time. I've often thought that about Rugby Union and Rugby League too. When I first started watching both at the top level, players were just fit, not really bulked up - unless they were naturally Shrek-like anyway. Nowadays they are virtually all behemoths, with forearms thicker than my thighs - and I get the impression that injury rates have reduced.
