Just days before the World Cup starts and Rio Ferdinand, Manchester United and England captain, has been ruled out of the competition after sustaining a knee ligament injury during training.
Is Ferdinand’s injury just a result of misfortune? Some may point to Ferdinand’s injury hit season being proof that something like this was almost inevitable for the United star, others have been quick to state that it is the old “injury jinx” striking again just before a major finals event.
I believe that the luck theory is less than accurate and that the reason that top players get injured before donning the official England jersey is most likely due to the repetitive strain of the sheer number of matches that the team faces in a single season.
If you are playing for a top side, who have qualified for Europe, then you can expect to participating in four competitions each season. The Premier League, The Champions League or Europa Cup, The FA Cup and the Carling Cup. That doesn’t include the plethora of pre-season friendlies or the 6-10 international games that occur before, during and after the season.
As well as playing a lot of games, England plays games with a high degree of intensity. England is unique in that it plays games at an intensity and speed which is injury inducing. Even accounting for squad rotation and players not playing in FA Cup or Carling Cup ties, many top players will be playing 40-50 very tough games a season, not to mention training.
This type of labour has dire consequences on the body of player. Injuries are unavoidable with this kind of consistent strain.
For proof, look no further than England’s National team. We’ve already had to lament the loss of Rio Ferdinand, Bobby Zamora, Owen Hargreaves, and Michael Owen from the World Cup tournament, a very sad fact, considering that they are all great players. Capello eliminated Theo Wolcott After his game performance suffered due to an injured shoulder that he sustained in 2008 match against Stroke.
The players on the team that are fit, didn’t get that way easily Ledly King keeps his knees in top shape by utilizing a specialist trainer. David James, Glen Johnson, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Aaron Lennon and most worryingly of all Wayne Rooney have all recently recovered from injury. People like Gareth Barry will be missing the first game of the World Cup finals against the United States. Then of course there is David Beckham, who’s body finally gave up a couple of months ago after almost two constant years of soccer with LA Galaxy and Milan, when an Achilles injury ruling England’s most capped player out of the playing squad for the finals.
In England, we love soccer, desiring huge, quick games, by our fervor may indeed end up hurting our players.
Tags: england soccer, england world cup, soccer, World Cup