Not seen enough of him to judge his pace but he's a much more intelligent player than larkeche and more experienced than Esquardinhio
Does anyone have any theories on why we're having so many injury problems the last few years? It just doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure we're having way more issues with it than the average club. Is it the playing surface at our training ground? Surely it can't be the training regimes as they've changed so much with different coaching staff over the years.
I’m sure I read somewhere that under the previous regime we signed injury prone players as they were cheaper. JCS? Willock?
The game has changed so much over the past 50 years as to be unrecognisable from that era. If my memory is right in 75-76 we only used 14 different players in our starting eleven all season, a few others were subs in a time when only one was allowed. Think about that in the modern era where so many players only play 60-70 minutes and with squad sizes often are rested every two or three games. As well as that in the 70s our games were played on cabbage patches that often were mudheaps by December. Players didn't have the protection from refs modern ones do and the first 15 minutes often resembled a gbh festival as the hatchet men left their calling cards without even getting a booking. Yet despite that level of 'danger' long term injuries were fewer than the ridiculous levels today. The only explanation has to be the training and fitness conditioning has reached a level were footballers are 'tuned' to such a level that they are 'on the edge' and the most innocuous challenge or just catching their studs on a turn can produce a season ending injury, likewise the explosive pace some produce can end with a torn hamstring which seems more common these days. High fitness levels and athleticism trump talent in the modern game, the likes of Bowles, Worthington and their like would struggle to get game time in the modern era...
I agree, there is a definate element of players being tougher in previous era's. The speed and agility of players now is however far superior. Shire horses vs Thoroughbreds are both talented in the field they work in. Additionally if you look at the overall stresses placed on modern players bodies there is greater prolonged physical trauma. Players of the 70/80's kicked the ball about with their mates and trained with the club a night or two a week. Modern players are training 3/4 days a week from 8 years old. By 21 they've done more miles than a player who retired in 1980 ever did.
You've hit the nail on the head with that post. Modern day footballers are measured on everything that you could imagine is measurable. I see it on a weekly basis. Literally how high you can jump to to where you can bend your arm to. The cost of injuries is also detrimental financially to a club as it's wasted wages. They are so fine tuned that they are seconds away from muscle strains. Amateur footballers suffer much less and play week in week out. Put them under the microscope at a professional club and half of them would be told not to play next week due to something or other
True. In the 75/76 period with our golden team, I remember being very upset if we did not field our strongest field. Don’t remember being upset that often. That was a very robust team. Today it is very different game.
Next time you’re wondering if you shouldn’t have that third slice of cake, remember being too lean contributes to your chances of a hamstring pull when you eventually heave yourself off the couch.
To be honest if you put amateur players under the microscope most would be told to sell their boots and take up dominoes
That would be after the person doing the assessment picked themselves up off the floor and stopped laughing......
