Fitness, injury nightmare awaits PSL players, coaches
Breakdowns inevitable after a lengthy layoff due to the coronavirus
Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs can expect long-term injuries given the extraordinary circumstances of the Absa Premiership’s return to play and scramble to finish by August 31‚ says former Bafana Bafana fitness trainer Joshua Smith.
AmaZulu high performance manager Smith said from a fitness trainer’s perspective, an August 1 kickoff was preferable in terms of preparation‚ but the Catch-22 was that matches would come thick and fast out of a period of inactivity‚ resulting in fatigue and breakdowns. The PSL and SA Football Association have continued to wrangle over a start date for the Premiership and GladAfrica Championship, to be completed in a bio-safe bubble‚ with the latter having set down August 1‚ after the PSL preferred July 18.
“Ja‚ I definitely see injuries coming. I spoke to a colleague and they foresee at least three long-term injuries because of coming out of such a long period [inactive]‚” Smith said on Tuesday.
“No matter how well you prepare ... in normal football already there are injuries.
“And we are now going into an extraordinary situation with a long period out‚ a short period of preparation‚ and a lot of games in a short period of time.”
Smith said this combination, plus a lack of friendlies‚ presented a significant challenge in getting players match fit.
AmaZulu returned to organised training on July 6‚ and most other clubs on about that date‚ which would mean a four-week preparation for an August 1 kickoff.
“Normally we have an offseason for a player of four to five weeks‚ and then a preseason of six to seven weeks‚” Smith said.
“What we’ve got here is effectively an off-season of about 16 weeks‚ and a preseason where the league was initially supposed to start this past weekend‚ of two weeks‚ and now [with an August 1 start] four weeks. From that perspective, time to reduce the deconditioned effect players might have gone through is just not enough.
“And‚ as good a running programme as you might have had [individually during the lockdown]‚ a massively important aspect of training is playing football‚ and we can’t expose our players to friendly games.
“So you’ve got a situation where you don’t have enough time to expose the players to progressive loading‚ and you also cannot expose them to the right type of loading [in friendlies].”
Smith said‚ even the later kickoff of August 1‚ while vastly preferable from a preparation perspective to July 18‚ presented the challenge of matches coming at a furious rate.
This‚ after such a long a period of inactivity‚ and short “preseason”‚ will see matches not improve in quality even as players do progress in match fitness‚ because it creates fatigue.
“It’s a very difficult situation and I would be surprised if any team were able to come back and perform at 100%.
“I don’t see that an intensity in matches can be maintained beyond 45 to 60 minutes. I’d be very surprised if teams can go the distance.”
Measures such as the five substitutes allowed by Fifa in response to Covid-19 circumstances‚ clubs promoting MultiChoice Diski Challenge reserve players and rotating players often may help alleviate this to an extent‚ Smith said.