Injuries 2025/26 | Kovacic could be ruled out for further 3-4 months (p37)

[Marvin.]

The news has been spun by the BBC. The injury setback dates back to the 1st July. The real story is that Rodri is closing in on a return and full fitness.

 

[simon23]

I can predict the past too.

Been saying it along with others before he even set foot on the pitch...lots of posters have.

 

[vicblueman]

Also "a big injury" yet may feature in some of the 1st 3 games.

Pep needs to get a grip with Big!! Its probs muscle niggles after being out so long. Play Nico or move him on

He has said in the Mail that squad needs to be trimmed & we maybe undercooked for the 1st 3 games of the season .
He says this every season but we usually start of well.

 

[citymad]

Think medical science has improved a bit since then

I thought that Ming’s photo was a bit shocking to be honest. Really surprised to see that much muscle loss from an athlete. (Could’ve been the angle of camera) Looked like an advanced exercise he was doing and it still looked atrophied.

 

[Rodri’s ACL]

Still don’t feel right. Pep said he’ll give me another month.

 

[hobbsisablue]

Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see the Ballon D'Or Rodri operating at that level again. That injury has seriously derailed his career and I'll think he'll always have difficulty staying injury-free from now on.

Get a fookin grip man

 

[hobbsisablue]

Unfortunately I think you're correct. There's never a good time to get an ACL, but 28 is especially bad. Right in his prime. This year he won't be anywhere near where he was and by the time his body fully heals he'll be in his 30's. I still expect him to be a very good, and possibly great, player but I don't think he'll ever be what he was before.

Fookin ell. Keep away from anything sharp

 

[alexmcity]

In the context of what Pep said, not fully fit means not fully fit to start games, for us or Spain... But Rodri is expected to be fit enough to play some minutes before the international break.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

To be fair Pep usually treats the games upto the first international break as pre season.

If Rodders need the time. Even playing Spurs and Scum in that period we'll be ok without him.

Pretty sure having figured out a way to win titles and trophies without a recognised left back or striker, pep can figure out a way to do so without rodri (if necessary).
Lots more than Rodri not being there wrong last season and I think baldy will sort it out.

 

[MCFC1993]

Jack Gaughan has just done an article on Kovacic.

Injury setback, could be out until October.

 

[remember arthur mann]

Has he signed again

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Jack Gaughan has just done an article on Kovacic.

Injury setback, could be out until October.

Stones can do a great job there and with a bit of luck could manage a couple of months without an injury.

 

[Whether or not]

It will be interesting to see how our squad numerically looks at the end of the window. Particularly whether Pep has come to terms with probably needing a few more players. The calendar and workload for top players now means that to compete you need 3 or 4 more proper first team players than was the case even 10 years ago. We already have 5 who couldn’t travel to Palermo, and that is probably going to be the norm throughout the season, given that a couple of the ones who did go are highly injury prone. Pep worries me when talking about a small squad, I just don’t think it is realistic anymore.

 

[Marvin.]

It will be interesting to see how our squad numerically looks at the end of the window. Particularly whether Pep has come to terms with probably needing a few more players. The calendar and workload for top players now means that to compete you need 3 or 4 more proper first team players than was the case even 10 years ago. We already have 5 who couldn’t travel to Palermo, and that is probably going to be the norm throughout the season, given that a couple of the ones who did go are highly injury prone. Pep worries me when talking about a small squad, I just don’t think it is realistic anymore.

It is unclear to me if players are over-training. Whilst the game gets more intense, that reflects higher human performance standards. The pitch is the same size, the surfaces improve. The training is more scientific, and more efficient. When players train to improve endurance or strength, then the training regimes are better designed to do that. We know about over-training and how to test for it. Nutrition improves. Diagnosing injuries will be better with improved medical techniques etc. Sports science advances and benefits the players, in that they can do strengthening exercises on major and minor muscle groups to protect ligaments and tendons. I think clubs monitor players movements during the game i.e., how far, and fast they ran, and they can instantly feed this back and do something about it.

Players are very vocal now. They have become more important than clubs. So they talk more freely about the number of games they play. People always protest that too much is expected of me. They react to stress. It doesn't mean that they are good judges of what their limits are.

Another big change is in mental pressure. Media scrutiny of players is has surged. People in the game, especially managers are under huge scrutiny as football becomes more and more important. This is important because human performance depends on an efficient nervous system. Fatigue exerts itself through failure of the nervous system. Antagonistic muscle groups stop functioning correctly, hence when players are tired they become more prone to muscle tears. Constant high stress hormone levels probably reduce the bodies ability to recover, damage sleep patterns etc. 30 years ago if Ronny Rosenthal blasted over at the Holte End, Liverpool and Villa fans knew, but the whole world didn't. Now players like Jack Grealish, Rashford, Sterling, Foden are scrutinised all the time and not just for football reasons. That cannot be easy to cope with.

There are measures in the game that we could take to combat exhaustion e.g., changes to subs, a mid-half break, changes to the squad size.

Commercial pressure on clubs increases, and that leads to demanding post-season and pre-season games. Man Utd players played many more games through the Summer than City did, and yet City played the CWC. We could reduce the international fixture workload. Why are we playing the European Championships, and the UEFA Nations League?

Pep can if he likes use fringe players more in Cup games, and league games for that matter. Liverpool under Klopp ignored the League Cup and FA Cup. Wenger ignored the Cups, or used them to develop fringe players. Pep treats them seriously. I would like Pep to make much more use of academy players. I don't know if it is significant but if you look at recent successful clubs like PSG and Barcelona, their young players are very prominent. I think we could make better use of our younger players in the squad. It was obvious last season that O'Reilly could have been selected earlier. Using U-21 players are a potentially unlimited resource for clubs as their numbers are not restricted by squad rules and they would allow clubs to minimise stress on the playing squad.

 

[platty7]

The news has been spun by the BBC. The injury setback dates back to the 1st July. The real story is that Rodri is closing in on a return and full fitness.

exactly always negative vibes from the press . He looked to be moving ok in the open training when they were playing the small sided game for30 miniutes . Just being careful with his return . go to youtube and rewatch it around 3h10 into the video he is easy to spot because only him and gundo are in white bibs

 

[johnny crossan]

Doesn't help to have this thread title following the cartel propaganda take btw.

 

[johnny crossan]

Bit of a shaker to hear Kovacic will be out until at least October on the game commentary last night. Baleba where are you?

 

[Marvin.]

Bit of a shaker to hear Kovacic will be out until at least October on the game commentary last night. Baleba where are you?

I do not want City to buy another central midfielder. Rodri was in the training pics. from yesterday. Hopefully he gets a full weeks training under his belt and will be available for some minutes at Wolves.

I also agree about the topic title. Why are ops. and injuries from May and July being described as setbacks? Nothing new has happened. In fact Pep's news on Rodri was really good. I think the media are trying to catch Man Utd and Liverpool fans with their headlines.

 

[Wayneclarkemunchescarrots]

Bit of a shaker to hear Kovacic will be out until at least October on the game commentary last night. Baleba where are you?

Hopefully behind o’reilly

 

[johnny crossan]

I do not want City to buy another central midfielder. Rodri was in the training pics. from yesterday. Hopefully he gets a full weeks training under his belt and will be available for some minutes at Wolves.

I also agree about the topic title. Why are ops. and injuries from May and July being described as setbacks? Nothing new has happened. In fact Pep's news on Rodri was really good. I think the media are trying to catch Man Utd and Liverpool fans with their headlines.

I think Pep has acknowledged the only proper DM cover for Rodri is Gonzales on whom the jury is definitely out. I think Baleba would be a wise HG investment given the uncertainty about both - plus Rodrygo & Gray of course ;-)