CAN OUR MEDICAL TEAM OR PHYSIO DO BETTER FOR ARSENAL? by Galen
In the last week I have been explaining the importance of Arsenal getting a world class striker and a world class Defensive midfielder. But after watching the Champions League Final yesterday I have come to the conclusion that injuries is one of the most important aspects of either winning or losing.
Lionel Messi said the season has been wonderful for him and for Barcelona, and he credits fitness as one of the most important reasons. You look at that Barcelona team, and the key players and the players on the bench have always been fit, all season.
The Premier league Injury table below shows Arsenal as second behind Man United with the most number of injuries over the season.
Here is a look at the table in full.
Rank Club Injuries
1. Manchester Utd 68
2. Arsenal 66
3. Stoke City 66
4. Newcastle Utd 64
5. Everton 62
6. West Ham United 61
7. Liverpool 52
8. Aston Villa 51
9. Manchester City 51
10. Queens P Rangers 49
11. West Bromwich 49
12. Hull City 48
13. Crystal Palace 45
14. Chelsea 43
15. Sunderland 42
16. Southampton 38
17. Tottenham 38
18. Swansea City 31
19. Leicester City 29
20. Burnley 24
I know we can’t compare Spain and England as there are no winter breaks, and the intensity and tempo are different. But it doesn’t change the fact that our players have also spent a remarkable 1466 days out with injuries, which is second behind Newcastle United. Not even the great Barcelona would win all those trophies with these injuries. Per our BFG has defended the manager saying that he is very flexible and very open to changes, and he cites Shad Forsythe as and example of changes in training methods. But have things really changed at Arsenal? The injury table and the amount of days of injury we have proved otherwise.
Thierry Henry was critical of Ozil and the amount of assists he has had as compared to Cesc Fabregas. Ozil has had 14 assists in 2 seasons while Cesc has had 18 assists in one season. But what is not mentioned is the fact that Ozil has spent about 7 months out of the teams with 2 long term injuries in the last 2 seasons. That is almost like missing a whole season of football. My point is that if our best players are constantly injured even if we got Jackson Martinez and Vidal we shall not win the league.
Ozil played 22 games. Rambo 29 games. Jack 14 games. Giroud 27 games. Debuchy 10 games. OX 23 games . Bossielny 27 games Arteta 7 games. Welbeck 25 games. Theo 14 games and Diaby 0 games etc. I want to note that the lack of gametime was not as a result of bench time but more as a result of injuries.
Compare that to the Chelsea Key players in the Premier league. Terry 38 games. Hazard 38 games. Ivanovic 38 games. Cesc 34 games. Cahill 36 games. Willian 36 games. Matic 36 games Azpilicueta 30 games. Cortois 32 games.
I know its been a long article but when your key players are playing 22 league games a season you have no chance of winning the league. Cazorla with 37 games Sanchez 35 games and BFG 35 games are the only 3 players to have played more than 30 league games. lets put it this way its simply not good enough.
Can the medical team or the Physio do better for Arsenal?
Galen Sona.