Dupont's investigation backs up Zidane's low turnover

When Zinedine Zidane returned to Real Madrid in March 2019, he was clear that the white team needed a facelift. And this included all the levels of the organization chart. This is how Grégory Dupont arrived in the summer, replacing Antonio Pintus as the team's physical trainer. The endorsement of the French researcher was broad and having been in charge of the set-up of the world champion France in 2018 added sparkle to the bet. At first, his method was doubted, because the injuries accompanied the white preseason, stay in the United States through. Now, a year and a half later, it is not in doubt.

In its previous stage, Zizou took control of LaLiga thanks to a B unit led by James Rodríguez and Álvaro Morata who maintained the level of the usual starters. In the new one, that bet turned out to be a frog when he tried it and, at the moment of truth, it is a much smaller group that shares the cake of the minutes. The clearest example is the Tourmalet that the Whites have had to face recently. With the yoke of doubts lurking, the Marseillais triumphed with four key victories in the 11 most important days of the course so far (Sevilla, Borussia, Atlético and Athletic). All this with a minimal variation of men, since only 14 footballers have shared the titles, despite the tight schedule. As well, this absence of rotations goes hand in hand with a study signed by Grégory Dupont in 2010 and you have collected The country: Effect of two soccer games in one week on physical performance and in the incidence of injuries. This article, which appears in the September 2010 issue of the magazine The American Journal of Sports Medicine It was published in April of that same year and supports the allocation of minutes by the Madrid coach in this short period of time.

Performance and risk

The one of Valenciennes studied with five colleagues the physical consequence of the excessive load of encounters in the players and the conclusion that appears in the abstract of the study is clear: “The recovery time between two matches, separated by 72 to 96 hours, appears to be sufficient to maintain the level of physical performance, but not long enough to maintain a low injury rate“. In this way, the performance of Courtois, Varane, Mendy, Kroos, Benzema, Modric, Vinicius and Lucas Vázquez, who have started in the four mentioned matches.

However, this study has another vertex, much more negative, that puts players exposed to this extreme load of minutes at risk. “The data collection highlights the need to rotate players, to improve recovery strategies and maintain a low injury rate among athletes during periods with a congested match schedule.”. This boils down to, performance is not affected, but the risk of injury grows exponentially.

Sample

Dupont and his companions They monitored the physical performance and injuries of the Glasgow Celtic players during two seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09) in which the Scots participated in the Champions League. Therefore, the sample was carried out in a sports environment of maximum performance and the analyzed data of the 32 players who participated in the study were: total distance covered, distance covered at high intensity, distance to sprinting and number of accelerations along the 52 local matches that played The Hoops throughout those two campaigns.

Method and keys to face the cons

The performance, as we collected previously, hardly differed from one game to another and, although it points to the greater risk of existing injury, it gives hints of what may be the best way to combat fatigue: the greater risk of suffering a physical mishap appears in the final quarter hour of each of the parts, being greater in the second part, obviously. Further, a cold bath, at about 15 degrees, after each encounter and high intensity training helps, along with the use of compression articles for 12 hours, help you recover more easily.

Nutrition is another point made by Dupont and his colleagues. While three hours before the event, the diet should revolve around fruit, vegetables or legumes (carbohydrates with a low glycemic index), once the effort is over, you have to opt for high glycemic index carbohydrates, such as smoothies, sports drinks, soups, yogurts or sandwiches to regain strength as soon as possible. Likewise, he insists on the importance of a pre-game meal, which should include between 140 and 330 grams of carbohydrates, as this increases performance in the match.

Swim with the current in favor

Finally, another of the researchers' discoveries is that the team that is ahead on the scoreboard, although it does not travel a much shorter distance than the one that is behind, does regulate their efforts much better. That is to say, the distance traveled at a high intensity is much less, thus reducing the risk of injury. Ultimately, possession helps fight physical problems and more in times of tight calendar like the one we live in right now. In the first part, although the advantage exists, the data of both teams are similar, but when the urgency is pressing in the second part, the muscles begin to suffer.

Real Madrid, curiously, has not been behind on the scoreboard at any time in these eleven days, a fact that, according to the study of his physical trainer, goes hand in hand with a greater resistance against injuries. Since Zidane returned to the white bench, his rotation policy has changed, this season, in fact, he is the third that makes the least changes per game (3.69, only behind Elche and Getafe). This decision appears to be non-random and Gregory Dupont seems to be behind it.