No substitute for preparation, but clubs need bench players
A LEADING sports scientist has told English football clubs to trust their benches if the season resumes because players are unlikely to have had the preparation time they ideally need.
Berlin-based Dr Joel Mason has studied the first two rounds of post-lockdown Bundesliga football in Germany.
The opening week saw 0.88 injuries per game, dropping to 0.78 last weekend. The Bundesliga average is 0.27, increasing to 0.37 on the last few seasons’ opening weekends. Mason says there is almost certain to be an increase in injuries when England resumes, and clubs will have to make good use of their substitutes.
“The first week in particular there were a lot of muscle injuries but in the last two rounds of matches they’ve been more contact or joint injuries
– knees and ankles mainly,” he explained. “It’s definitely down to fatigue but the research didn’t take into account all the training injuries because they’re very hard to track. Borussia Dortmund suffered a lot of soft tissue injuries from the start of May to the resumption.
“I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an increase of some sort but some injuries might come in training. Dortmund got them early in their training camp.”
Despite having Robert Andrich sent off in the first half, relegation-threatened Union Berlin only used two of their five available substitutes in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Mainz.
“It comes down to how much teams trust their bench,” said Mason. “Union haven’t got a lot of depth and they only used two substitutes. They’ve had a lot of soft tissue injuries.
“In the Premier League that’s going to be a bit easier.
“If teams are a couple of goals up they need to flick a switch and try to start pacing themselves.”
The Premier League is due to return on June 17, when Sheffield United travel to Aston Villa. Clubs only returned to group training last week, and contact work yesterday, meaning four weeks of preparation.
Championship clubs were a week later returning to training but as they hope to complete nine rounds of matches and the play-offs by July 31, their resumption cannot be too far behind.
Mason disagrees with Gary Neville’s assertion that “two to three weeks is about right to get them playing again” but accepts compromises are necessary.
“As long as possible,” was his response when asked how much training was needed, yet he added: “but they need to balance it against the needs of the league and not bleeding too much into next season as well.
“The Bundesliga players did not have enough time off. Typically you’re looking at six weeks of structured training but in this situation that’s not feasible. The limited preparation is not ideal but under the circumstances, it’s just what has to be done.
“It’s good to look at areas where you can have concessions, like the five substitutes rule.
“They need to get that sportsspecific contact training because it’s such a rapid increase of intensity to full games with full contact. It’s the smooth transition which is really going to determine success.
“Teams do need contact training but you need to minimise it.”
Charlton Athletic have organised two “pre-season” friendlies ahead of their, as yet, unscheduled return.
“I’m not even sure about how many German clubs did full 11-v-11 in-house matches,” said Mason. “It’s obviously not ideal.”
The Blades face 10 Premier League matches in 39 days, plus up to three FA Cup ties, with final being staged at Wembley on Saturday, August 1.
“Spreading the load of matches is important in injury prevention,” added Mason. “It (the schedule) is not reasonable but in the circumstances it might be. Increased volume of matches really escalates the injury rate. It’s a constant balance.”