Huge spike in premier league injuries due to fixture congestion

[Fox92]

I've always felt there is to many games. The Saturday in between, weekend when we played West Ham this season, needs binning. Extend the season either way.

 

The Newcastle injuries against us were obviously poor management, Bruce knew some of those players were injured before the game, but in his position he probably hasn't got a strong enough squad to make wholesale changes.

[CosbehFox]

Next year there’s no excuse as Boxing Day falls on a Saturday - they can spread those games out like a normal weekend to satisfy TV. I don’t see the fixtures in between being well attended if they are midweek 7.45 kick offs (or unless they play 28th at 3pm) 

[murphy]

8 hours ago, Goober said:

They don't all have the luxury of sitting 2nd in the table like we do. Nor do they have the luxury of having a squad as strong as ours. Much harder to make wholesale changes and potentially chuck away points when you're down at the bottom.

Every club has the luxury of a 25 man squad, they have to be brave enough to use it.

 

That said I wouldn't mind seeing a full fixture list during international weekends.  If your player is called up, tough.  The vast majority of Premier League players are internationals somewhere so every club will be impacted.

[Voll Blau]

1 hour ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Next year there’s no excuse as Boxing Day falls on a Saturday - they can spread those games out like a normal weekend to satisfy TV. I don’t see the fixtures in between being well attended if they are midweek 7.45 kick offs (or unless they play 28th at 3pm) 

Suspect they might as that becomes the Bank holiday that Boxing Day would have been.

 

I do think cutting out a game in between at the top level would be a good idea, and hopefully help lower and non-league clubs out if people are desperate to see some football in between Boxing Day and New Year. Suspect we'll end up seeing the FA Cup shafted again in some way as a "compromise" though...

[ScouseFox]

it’s still tv’s fault at the end of the day. 

 

every other league in the country played at normal times on boxing day (as in not 8pm), then they all played on the sunday not the saturday (so they had more than 40 hours rest), then they all played again on new year’s day. so they all played thursday, sunday, wednesday. which is just basically a normal schedule with a midweek game in between. 

 

but the prem couldn’t do that because amazon needed to have 5 different kick off times or whatever it was on boxing day, and sky needed to have their normal weekend slots from saturday lunchtime to sunday evening at the weekend. 

[nwl fox]

I love the amount of games we get to see over the festive period when most people are off work and have the opportunity to enjoy it. Rather than drop a fixture over that period is there not an argument to bring the 3rd round FA cup ties a week forward and pushing back league fixtures a week to allow for the inevitable squad rotation to happen without the potential impact it has on teams league campaigns

[mazarron fox]

I think regarding the FA cup the Spanish have a great idea. As their league system is a pyramid the 3rd division has 18 x 18 leagues with 4 positions of promotion available only from those 18 leagues. So most teams who win their leagues regionally will lose but their compensation is a place in Spanish cup qualifying. If they win one or two rounds of qualifying then the la liga clubs enter the draw and all will be paired away to a lower league club. If that club has not got a big enough or adequate enough stadium it’s moved to a bigger local ground. Their are no replays and games are completed in that one match and receipts go to the lower league club. The la liga teams are not paired together and only the champions league and Europa league teams are exempt.

its all televised and great for local kids to see the big teams and occasionally there is a shock

[majaco]

Rodgers has managed things well.

 

On the West Ham match thread, some posters appeared to be in meltdown about team selection.  

 

It looks like the management know what they are doing.  But I worried about Ricardo's hamstring now.

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

8 hours ago, knitro said:

They need to find times earlier in the season to add fixtures vs. this mid-season glut or trying to extend it later into June. They could even make a thing of it - like "Big Tuesday" when everyone plays after the first Saturday or something. If there's not going to be a winter break, inventiveness is needed.

They also need to establish a reasonable mandatory gap between fixtures. 

 

But I like the holiday fixtures (although not as insane as now), and wouldn't mind another "packed period to start the season, which would also allow managers to test their squad.

 

But much of this would go away if they just removed an international break (or two).

[hackneyfox]

51 minutes ago, murphy said:

Every club has the luxury of a 25 man squad, they have to be brave enough to use it.

 

That said I wouldn't mind seeing a full fixture list during international weekends.  If your player is called up, tough.  The vast majority of Premier League players are internationals somewhere so every club will be impacted.

 

10 minutes ago, majaco said:

Rodgers has managed things well.

 

On the West Ham match thread, some posters appeared to be in meltdown about team selection.  

 

It looks like the management know what they are doing.  But I worried about Ricardo's hamstring now.

We were 'lucky' that we were playing two poor sides where we could afford to rest players, had we been playing Chelsea and Man U then things may have changed.

[foxy boxing]

The amount of games a club plays in a few days over Christmas and New year is Too much as the more tired you or your body is the more likely you are to pick up an injury. Clubs have to manage their squads over Christmas as best they can as the fixture congestion piles up. The fans love the busy Christmas period but it has been long mooted about a winter break which other top leagues have and we don't which would help players recover and get refreshed for the second half of the season. top teams are lucky than others where they can rotate their squads.

[Foxhateram]

7 hours ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

Love the busy Christmas period myself, if players get muscle injuries then that's a shame but I can't say I'll lose much sleep over it.

Me too. I also don't feel like players who are trained athletes should be getting injuries after playing 2 games in a week for a few weeks. Training should be adapted to suit the increase in fixtures, and said training time should also include sports massage and therapy (ice baths etc).

 

As a club, even when we had only just entered the Prem, we have had a fantastic record with lack of injuries, this is down to our incredible physio and sports science team. Other clubs need to invest in this area, then injuries would decrease. 

[The boy Linacre]

See both sides of it, don't think there is a one size fits all answer.

City whilst back in the Premier have had a really good injury record, why??  Liverpool have just had a silly 18 months to 2 years in terms of matches, and aside from Oxlade Chamberlain a couple of times what other decimation of the squad have they had?

I think it comes down to how squads approach it all, the reduction in training when the fixture congestion is high.

Clubs are so scientific these days (or should be) and they know whats coming.....

Rafa used to play a weakened team against the big boys in the Prem, Eddie Howe almost never plays the 1st teamers in the FA Cup and probably League Cup.  Perhaps you play slightly weakened teams if you are near the bottom against the big boys away for example, and do the best you can in your "Premier Mini League"

There are ways round this whether you are at the top or the bottom, but the clubs have to find a way that works or like Villa now with Wesley and Heaton, or they are in trouble.

We have a good squad now, 18 months after the title we didn't, clubs go through cycles and changes and need to make sure they have enough cover.

Morale of the story, finish 17th or higher, but where possible find a way to keep the players on the pitch most of the time. 

[Aus Fox]

Data supplied for The Daily Telegraph by Premier Injuries Limited also suggests a huge spike in recent weeks, with 96 injuries of varying severity reported across last month and the first two days of 2020. That is only one fewer than those injuries lasting more than 10 days across the whole of August and September and, with another 17 players being assessed, the number will almost certainly swell in the coming days.

 

Where it compares the injuries in August and September with the injuries in December and says their was only one more. The season didn’t start to until 11/08 and there was a 2 week international break in there too.

So you’re basically comparing a 5 week period with a 5 week period and saying there was only 1 more injury. When you consider that’s comparing beginning of the season, with mid way through and colder weather, I think these aren’t too bad stats at all.

[TRAD-DAD]

2 hours ago, bss9401 said:

I listened to a 5 live podcast this week and it covered this subject. I heard Pulis, Crouch, Shearer and others say that they absolutely loved the December/|January period. Their points were that as professional footballers they are very privileged, are in love with the game and are in peak condition physically. To them playing several games in rapid succession was part of what they lived for and Pulis has said that he cannot understand those who complain about it. 

Yes well they would wouldn't they? I mean they are all making a nice living out of TV punditry so it keeps the fees rolling in over Christmas for them. They no longer have to do it and in any case when they were playing it was no where near as bad as it is now. I wouldn't set much store over what they said. 

[turkish14]

2 hours ago, bss9401 said:

I listened to a 5 live podcast this week and it covered this subject. I heard Pulis, Crouch, Shearer and others say that they absolutely loved the December/|January period. Their points were that as professional footballers they are very privileged, are in love with the game and are in peak condition physically. To them playing several games in rapid succession was part of what they lived for and Pulis has said that he cannot understand those who complain about it. 

Understand their views, but football is becoming more intense.

 

these guys are absolute beast compared to 15-10-5 years ago.

 

its so fast paced too, that’s it’s no surprise injuries over the busy festive period are on the increase 

[Aus Fox]

30 minutes ago, hackneyfox said:

 

We were 'lucky' that we were playing two poor sides where we could afford to rest players, had we been playing Chelsea and Man U then things may have changed.

We played Liverpool and Man City before that. Every club had a mixture of games against top, middle and lower clubs. It’s all about choosing the right time for a rest.

Don’t forget also we had cup games, which at least half the league didn’t have in that time too.

[st albans fox]

clubs have big squads 

 

the game isn’t just about 90 mins on a Saturday 

 

the clubs with the best policies and sports science depts will generally do better ....... I dont see a problem ....

it’s the same for everyone. The quality of the product drops off through the Xmas period but it always did.  

 

this season players will also get a two week break in feb 

[Lambert09]

5 hours ago, Nicolo Barella said:

A lot of it I think is down to poor sport science. It's no coincidence one of the worst sufferers is Newcastle under Brucey, a notorious worsener of injuries.

The schaar one was bizarre. The guy pings his hamstring and they try to get him to run it off. When does that ever work? When it’s gone it only gets worse. 

 

Villa did it against us as well. Brain dead decision making. 

[Innovindil]

All well and good saying ugh it's all about greedy clubs wanting TV money, but I haven't seen many players (I think maybe mata at utd?) complain about their fat weekly pay cheques. 

 

I love the winter fixtures. Long may they continue. 

[surrifox]

Newcastle’s injuries maybe brought this into focus a bit but to an extent that looks really like Bruce playing games and engaging in a battle of wills with management . Picking and playing players returning from long term injury 3 or 4 times in 10 days probably doesn’t end well 

[Jattdogg]

9 hours ago, TK95 said:

Not rocket science is it. But TV broadcasters and the Premier League are unable to look past the £ signs 

Yup.

 

Like others have said:

 

-scrap any cup replays

-add a game or two  earlier in the season

-uefa needs to cut down on number of bloody european games and travel somehow

-get rid of the League cup (after we win it). FA Cup is all you need.

-introduce salary caps, make squads use their younger players not  sign, hoard and loan out or stick in the u-21s etc.

-boxing day and new years day games to me at least are wank. Lets face it as humans who tend to have family functions  those days (or night before that is) we  might stay up late, have a few too many and why not its a time to be merry. Obviously the next day players wont be at their best. Play before xmas/newyears or two days after. Im sure a lot wont like that point but to me poor or rich its a time to be with family and friends.

 

[NaijaFox]

3 hours ago, Finnegan said:

I just don't understand why we insist on playing the Saturday in between. 

 

I'm really against a Christmas break, I've said loads of times I hate to hear managers moan about it, most people I know like the boxing day and new years day games. 

 

But they're comfortably a week apart. The obsession with sticking to the Saturday in between is odd and getting rid of it seems like such an obvious fix. 

 

That said, almost all of Newcastle's injuries against us were just awful management. They were all injured or risks before kick off and shouldn't have played. 

Boxing Day and New Year’s Day won’t always fall on midweek days, so there will be years in which the weekend game in-between would be unnecessary.

 

Personally, I frankly do not have an issue with the number of games, just the scheduling therefore. This season, I thought that this year the Saturday games should have been played on the Sunday. Other than that, no real substantive issues and I think the imputed injury link has been thus far largely ephemeral.

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Edited 3 January 2020 by NaijaFox

[DerbyshireFox]

3 hours ago, mazarron fox said:

It says on that list Ricci has an hamstring problem and Barnes too? Is that true? 

Barnes was the knock against Man City, Ricardo was rested as precaution against West Ham. Both were in the squad for Newcastle. Ricardo completed the game and Harvey stayed on the bench. We have managed the squad brilliantly but not everyone has the options or the confidence in their squad to do what we’ve done

[Jacnah]

8 hours ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

Love the busy Christmas period myself, if players get muscle injuries then that's a shame but I can't say I'll lose much sleep over it.

100% agree. Also, the bigger clubs drag their players off half way around the world both pre and pst season to increase their commercial visbility and returns. There are also simply to many meaningless international friendlies (no matter how they have been marketed in the last year). We shouldnt entertain the idea of undermoining the league without first looking at out of season activities