‘Well, you have to admit, we did have a bad run of injuries…’
I feel like getting a banner of that excuse to go next to the ‘In Arsene We Trust’ one that is prominently on display at the Emirates. It’s been the bog standard excuse for failure for near enough 5 years now. So I thought it was about time I conducted some research into the problem to establish exactly what hell is going on at the Grove.
All my research has been aided by a professional sports scientist who works for a well known Ruggerball club in London. I haven’t gone into serious detail because to be quite frank, it’s all a little bit too complicated and I would imagine it would be a little boring first thing in the morning… so here goes.
First things first… stop blaming the medical team. The medical team deal with the injuries that are handed to them… there is nothing they can do to prevent and injury… that job falls directly at the feet of the fitness coach. Colin Lewin and Gary O’Driscoll are exempt here.
The head of fitness goes by the name of Tony Colbert. He looks like a drill sergent and boasts the same qualifications as my friend…
His resume states:
‘Tony ensures that players can withstand what is always a highly rigorous season for first-team regulars at the Club’
and..
‘Tony worked with a range of sportsmen before joining the club and is an expert in football-specific fitness. He has also delivered lectures and developed a range of fitness training courses for health and fitness organisations – and has managed various gyms and fitness centres’
I am chuffed to bits that the best Arsenal.com could manage when advertising their head of fitness is that he has managed fitness centres and he has worked with a range of sportsmen. I need names people… I also thought it was interesting to read that he ensures players can withstand a rigorous season… because from where I’m sitting, that is clearly not the case.
Apparently there are a few categories of injury… impact injuries that are non-preventable, like, say, the Eduardo break. Then there are soft tissue and wear and tear injuries… which in the main, are preventable with good fitness coaching.
Lets have a look at the problems we have suffered.
Abou Diaby: Spends more time in the medical centre than Colin Lewin’s medical bag. Consistently injured for the past 2-3 seasons.
Robin Van Persie: Although he put in a good stretch last year, he managed to spend the previous 3 years out injured for large chunks of the season.
William Gallas: Again, he had a good year last season… but has previously spent a long time out and even complained about the staff and how they handled his injuries.
Rosicky: Do I even need to go into detail here?
The reason I raise this important question about injuries is because it is very important. A good team will struggle to cope with any more than 3 key player loses for any amount of time. The last time we went close in the Premiership… the key loss for the team wasn’t Eduardo… it was Rosicky, Sagna and Flamini. We lost them at key points in the season and never recovered.
Last season I appreciate we were out of it pretty early on… but losing Cesc for four months, Rosicky for the year, Eduardo nearly all of the season and Nasri proved detrimental.
So the question is, why do our players get injured more than any other teams? It won’t be our training ground… the pitches are perfect, it won’t be the matches… because everyone else plays them… and I refuse to blame luck… becuase Villa, Chavski, United and Liverpool seem to manage better than us. So what is it? What are our fitness staff doing so wrong?
Why when Rosicky and Eduardo return from long periods out do they pick up countless injures for months? I can appreciate that your muscles will be weaker… but that didn’t hinder Essiens recovery from cruciate damage… he was out for 8 months, came back and stayed back. Why are our players different? Why is it that when John Terry or Christaino Ronaldo get ruled out for a month, they are back in 3 weeks… yet our players are supposed to be out for 3 weeks and come back 4 months later? How can the youngest team in the Premiership suffer the most with injuries… that seems illogical?
It leads me to one conclusion… our players returns are not being managed correctly. Compare Tony Colberts CV to that of Manchester Uniteds fitness coach Tony Strudwick or Real Madrid’s Valter Di Salvo and you start to wonder how qualified our man is. He does afterall, hold one of the best jobs in world football and arguably… he’s not doing a very good job.
This isn’t something I feel people from either side of the AKB fence can dig me out over… it’s an excuse everyone points to… How many more years do we have to suffer the same problems? How many more times must we witness the same miserable injury patterns before someone at Arsenal addresses the issue? I ask, because it only seems to be us in the top 4 who suffer every single season… and this year things look no different and we haven’t even kicked a ball yet.
…how to ask to judge him in May.
Micky loving the theory…
Song does a flamster and leaves the club on a free
I don’t think we are getting Hangeland, just paper talk and Arsene hinting at signings to keep us off his back for the remainder of the window. Arsene knows how to jerk a neutered salamander off is what Arsene knows.
LOL
Arsene Knows ..
Like he knows if we get injuries we are duped
Like he knows we have a small squad,whose challenge to any silverware lies in keeping first 15 players healthy
Any more ???
Iceman. I’m doing my friggin casflow forecast for next year and need to be super optimistic, so please stop coming over with all them negative waves!
Fucking shit Jubilee Line!!!!
Song leaving on a free…
Mate if that’s not positive then I’m speechless
Good thinking Iceman. Had’nt thought of it that way. Sales for July 2010 have just gone through the roof. I will pay myself large dividends and take my son to more games!
I’d drink to that mate
Arsene knows………..how to fuck me off!
yes , Morning Dennis me olde cookie crumble !
also answer me this ! IF WENGER KNOWS MORE THEN ME , then why didnt he sell him last season when i was screaming out to DO so …
why has he waited another year and lost 10 mil in the doing so ..
thank fuck arsene knows , more than I !
also we could have picked up David villa last season when he was unsettled for around 20 mil or under as he was saying he would only want to play for US , or pool !
and dennis your dead right there …
wenger will only buy a player ahead of his youth if the price is a BARGAIN ..
else he will wait for an UNSPECIFIED length of time waiting for the likes of song – denilson eboue and all his other little flowers to bloom!
and during that time ticket prices go up and the win to loss ratio goes down …
LAzer – You forgot to add to Kelsey’s list Kolo and Ade, two first team regulars….
fuck you get some real plonkers come on during the midnight hours , twats who have never been to a game , yet after 2 weeks on football manager claim wenger is a genius as half a decade ago he constructed a good team which he has just as quickly de-constructed and left us right back in the shit again …
its a cycle if you look at it with blurred vision.
hic
Arsene knows……what a cunt he is being and he is loving it! The power hungry prick!
Also, if Arsene fucking knows, how come he keeps coming out stating he could’ve bought this player for £500,00 and that player for £750,000, players like Ranaldo, players like Torres, no doubt this time next year he’ll brag (!) how he could’ve bought David Villa for £5.50 and a fucking luncheon voucher, so i guess Arsene Knows how to miss out on players…..
Angelos Says:
August 13, 2009 at 07:32
ethan just stop talking about me…MY GOD!
————————————
Dont flatter yourself little man ..
and besides i never spoke to you , you were the one who decided to bark up my tree !
and tell me Arsene KNOWS , more than me ..
a nice one liner to stifle debate ..
i think that is rule one of this blog ..
morning grovers!
dennis
Both pool and SAF have both signed 1 a piece french under 21′s 1st teamers, probably the best 2 currently on the market ..
so where was the dipshit on that one ???
ARSENE KNOWS ….
Ethan. Followed your spat with some bloke who thought there was more to life than football.Strange way of thinking. Im fucked off with cashflows and want to hide till transfer window closes. Will take children to beach and try and kill lobsters. Bon appetit!
ethangunner Says:
August 13, 2009 at 08:49
ARSENE KNOWS ….
You AKB.
Mickey you basdtard, take me with you, for the love of god don’t leave me with the transfer window!!!
So in conclusion Arsene knows…all the wrong things.
Sigh.
Time for someone to speak up? WTF was Gazidis hired for? Another puppet?
arsene knows..we have lot of money
ethan – go wash you mouth out fella!!
DDM
so i guess Arsene Knows how to miss out on players…..
———————————
yet but he can secure GREATS like adebarndoor
or song billabong .. and who can forget EBAY eboue .. or flowery twats waiter Manuel,
oh our regular goal keeper is passed it , oh fuck it lets bring up our reserve keeper to be our 1st keeper ..
You know what…
so you hear it here 1st i bet you eboue will STAY !
wenger will talk one of his best players
( COUGH !) out of leaving and we will be blessed with seeing eboue take to the field for another season for over 30 games ..
can hardly wait …
still waiting for change in name
That’s it. Wetsuits out. Later.
Song Billabong.
ROFLMAO!!!!
ok ok we r back
Morning all
its a same o same day every day for any Arsenal supporter what a dump of crap we have to live hay
ARSENE KNOWS …how to get over the hill players to join our club and give them 2 year deals
ARSENE KNOWS …that you cant sub before the 60 minute mark even if your losing
ARSENE KNOWS …that you dont need money to buy great players you make them (vomit)
ARSENE KNOWS …how to stay in the top 4 (just)
ARSENE KNOWS …how to bullshit the fans
ARSENE KNOWS …that song – eboue and denilson are 1st class ..
ARSENE KNOWS .. how to get into the quarter finals of every comp prior to losing ..
see arsene does really know ..
NEW POST!
again late
everyones GONE SILENT.. LOL…right tony ??
Ethan, i’m a big fan but you ain’t doing yourself any favours – let it go man.
Would love to see Arsene get asked the question at a press conference one day “Do you think injury rates at a club are completely due to luck, or do you think that the staff have to bear some responsibility for how many injuries you have (and how long the players are out for)?” Would be interesting to hear his answer but amazing this only gets asked on the web but never in real life.
the only realy long term injury is the keeper but nasri,risicky,wilcattall will be back by october at the very latest,i realy dont understand the doom and gloom is all about we still have alot of attacking options, and i think the team has proven they can handle inuries very well yes they need sure up the defence a bit but squad is very stroung