Yes the best predictor of injury is a previous injury, therefore the players within our squad with recurrent injuries (i.e., Kompany) need to be handled differently.
It's my opinion that they are not, and we have seen the outcome of that this season. I take your point about age on board and that may be a factor too.
The medical staff/sport scientists may be being proactive, but if the manager doesn't use the information produced then they end up becoming simply reactive.
Not sure what being targets of PL bullies has to do with it, we are talking about soft tissue injuries not contact injuries.
I'm a scientist so don't believe in bad luck when it comes to things like this!
I am talking about injury prevention. That accumulates over timeWe were all over the place for pre-season friendlies but won the first 5 on the trot in the PL scoring 11 and conceding zero, so that doesn't really gel.
I'm guessing you meant to reply to the OP?I am talking about injury prevention. That accumulates over time
I agree with your general remarks but we don't really know how the sports science stuff is integrated into the first team. We can only guess and remark on certain things that don't look rightYes Aguero will have a particular regime with regards to warm-ups, strength sessions, recovery modalities etc., but he will still participate in most of, if not all of the training and conditioning sessions. I'm definitely not criticising the sport science/medical staff.
No to you. The comment about early season form after pre-season training misses the point that one of the aims of pre-season training is to provide a base level of fitness to protect the bodyfrom the demands of the season. Don't train properly off season, the you are more likely to get injured in the season.I'm guessing you meant to reply to the OP?
;)
We were all over the place for pre-season friendlies but won the first 5 on the trot in the PL scoring 11 and conceding zero, so that doesn't really gel.
As I say, you are well more informed than me.
Again, how do you know the manager is not taking any notice of the medical staff?
I thought there may have been a relationship between contact injuries affecting the likelyhood of picking up ST injuries
I appreciate your beliefs/training etcregarding bad luck, but I don't think that cannot be ruled out
I agree with your general remarks but we don't really know how the sports science stuff is integrated into the first team. We can only guess and remark on certain things that don't look right
It was a really well researched comment you made. Appreciated it, although I haven't gone beyond the abstractsYes I agree, and I don't want to talk too much in absolutes (i.e., completely leave the blame with Pellegrini) without knowing all the facts.
But from my research and experiences, the manager is the most important factor in these things and I wanted to provide some information to people on here about it.
Hopefully we won't suffer any more serious injuries for the rest of the season and see an almost full squad available come April for the run-in.
I find the first point surprising.There's no scientific evidence to suggest pitch surface influences injury risk (although players believe artificial surfaces increase risk, hence why Henry refused to play on them in the MLS).
Yes I agree it is speculative but the evidence (both scientific and the current epidemiology of injuries this season) would suggest we don't.
To me that would suggest those teams are implementing methods that are successfully reducing the risk of players getting injured. Mourinho is apparently very good at periodising training to minimise injury risk.
Essentially, although we don't know exactly what City do behind the scenes, the buck stops with Pellegrini.
It isn't bad luck, it is due to extraneous factors such as fatigue/poor conditioning as you mentioned. 'Soft tissue injuries' is an all encapsulating term for muscle/ligament/tendon injuries.
To me it would seem Pellegrini either a) doesn't perform the right training at the right time, b) implements a strategy that puts high loads on the players or c) doesn't allow for full recovery between matches (<3 days recovery between games does exacerbate this).
I find the first point surprising.
Plenty of times in the past, I have heard "professional medical advice" that it is better for injury prevention to train on softer surfaces than hard. Maybe it's one of these fallacies that are repeated so many times people believe it to be true?
Maybe it has not been scientifically proven as yet, but there still could be something in it?
Personally I'm not dismissing anything you've said. You've clearly put a lot of intelligent thought and time into this.
However if you are to lay partial or majority of blame at Pelkegrini's door then a little more knowledge of Pellegrini's past, the players individual past and some more insider knowledge would be needed.
If we're to blame the manager, his systems and training regimes then we'd have to see what the injury record was in Spain. I doubt he did quiet so well with Villareal and Malaga with injury ravaged squads.
Can't argue that our soft tissue injury situation is in no way unlucky or a fluke.
I personally believe there's a cocktail in errors. Manager, players personal injury record, fixtures and other teams approach.
We have too many players who fit all the above.
Take Aguero.
A key player who must play. So he plays a lot when fit. He is also a target for opposition. See Palace away. He also has a poor personal injury record pre City.
We started the season with injuries, no back up full backs, very light in midfield and one senior back up striker. We then lost Aguero and Konpany. Then Silva.
This puts huge pressure on the remaining players and manager and allows very little room for rest and rotation.
As I see it, if you start with injuries its a self perpetuating cycle. We now have what? 13 fit senior pros for our busiest few weeks. More injuries are likely due to overload. Not sure there's much we can do.
I know just talking generally.Bony was never injured at Swansea