It was revealed by Martin Keown earlier today that he believed that the hardness of the pitches in Arsenal’s training ground is one of the causes why the Gunners get more injuries than any other side in the Premiership, and now another Arsenal old-boy has come out in support of his view.
Ian Wright says McKeown is not the only one that has noticed the problem. “One of the complaints I have heard is that the training ground is quite hard,” Wright was reported as saying on ArsenalFanTV. “I spoke to Rio (Ferdinand) the other day and he said he had to train there with England and it was noticeable instantly.
“For me, that has got to have something to do with it. We’re in London, close to the top, top surgeons and doctors in the world. With the facilities we have got at the training ground it is worrying how many injuries we get and how long it takes out players to get back. If the training ground is hard and players have said it then they have got to look at that. With the players Arsenal are signing at the moment you want to make sure you can keep them on the pitch as often as you can.”
With England also doing their training at Arsenal’s London Colney facility, the young Gunners that play for England are getting double the exposure to the pitches, so surely it is about time that this was investigated. On racing tracks they have inspectors that walk the racing area and test for whether they believe a pitch is hard, good or soft going. Maybe we should start comparing fooball pitches in the same manner?
Do you think Wrighty and McKeown are on to something now?