Injuries, a real problem

LaLiga will resume on June 11 and face just over a frantic month, with 32 consecutive days of football, two unified final days and the pressure of the final stretch on the players. In addition, it will do so after several months of confinement, where footballers have barely been able to train beyond a series of machines that they may have in their respective homes. Back on the pitch, training sessions have been continually conditioned by the safety protocol that sought to avoid infection and, above all, it was not possible to play friendly matches. The return already arrives and the errors are not allowed. To achieve objectives, you have to give one hundred percent from minute one.

Under those circumstances, one of the main concerns of soccer players and physical trainers is injuries. You had feared it before, but the example of the Bundesliga is far from reassuring. Although Germany was somewhat more hasty on their return, the players paid dearly. On the first day after the break there were a total of twelve injured. Some of them, like Queen Dortmund fell in the same warm-up prior to the match. Men like Thiago, Lucas, Todibo, Haaland, Hazard or Thuram have been some of the victims. Not all have been muscle injuries, but the overall fitness was far from outstanding.

Before, you already warned Oliver Schmidtlein, a former physiotherapist at Bayern Munich and the German National Team, in an interview on TZ: “There is a high risk of injury. The isolation will have left consequences in the soccer players“In Spain, the clubs tried to alleviate this problem to a certain extent, asking LaLiga to dispute a friendly match before the start. The answer was negative and they will have to take the first day as evidence, while knowing the demands of the competition only eleven days from the end of the championship.

Five changes as medicine

To mitigate possible injuries and player overloads with advanced matches, the IFAB proposed the implementation of two extra changes per team for the remaining months of the season. The heat, already established under our borders, was another factor to consider. Thus, the technicians will be able to pull more of the bench than ever to avoid risks and have all the players in the first team rolled. However, not all are in favor of the existence of this rule.

Quique Setién believes that it will not benefit his team, although Clement Lenglet He clarified: “Of course it will come in handy when playing, I don't know Barça …”. Javier Aguirre, for his part, was contrary to the opinion of the Blaugrana coach: “It does good football and the physical integrity of the players. If two players are injured in the first half, you are left with a change and already in 70 or 80 you get cramps from the sun… What do you do? I think it's great to take care of the player and the show. Then the nuances go into budgets. “

Footballers concerned

“You have to safeguard health and do things well. You cannot suffer injuries. In Germany we have already seen what has happened.” That's how resounding he was David Aganzo, president of the AFE, before the return of the competition. He was not the only one. PiqueFor example, he asked Thebes in the Partidazo de Vamos to footballers could not use another week of preparation or Jémez, in the same line: “On June 12 we are going to be very fair.” Most want to return, but fear the possible consequences.

Saúl Ñíguez, in an interview with AS, gave the version of himself and some of his colleagues: “For me injuries are the biggest fear. After two and a half months without training in the field … Even if you train at home, it is totally different from what your body is used to. I think it was a short time to prepare. For me the option of the five changes is positive, the dates and times will help, but injuries I suppose there will easily be five or six per day“

Messi and many victims

Leo Messi It has been the most popular name in the media to be injured in the return to training. The Argentine footballer, as announced by Barcelona, suffers a contracture in the quadriceps of his right leg, which makes him hesitate to face Mallorca on the first day of the restart. It's not the only one. In the First Division, more than twenty soccer players have suffered small problems, which could worsen in quantity once the ball rolls again.

Osasuna, for example, has ten players between cottons. Equal, with a small tap, has already rejoined. In the fight for the descent there are also victims: Lumor (Mallorca) carries a fibrillar break; Ruibal and Oscar Rodriguez, from Leganés, had to slow down due to overloads … In the Second Division, Robert Mazán or Aketxe suffer overloads that have set them apart for a few days from the group dynamics.

Mental preparation, a factor to consider

Beyond the physical problems, mental preparation also worries clubs. After months confined and not too much physical work, the footballers must give their one hundred percent from the first moment. In the absence of eleven days, they have little margin for error and a failure to concentrate can mean a significant deviation from the objectives set.

Carlos Pérez Marín, psychiatrist with habitual treatment of athletes, explains to AS the difficulties They will have: “It can generate anxiety. On the one hand, there is the lack of physical training, which will surely lead the player to failures and worse performance. Isolation can even make athletes worry more about winning, as reality has been distorted“

“All this will increase your anguish in case of failure. Also in case they don't. Soccer players, accustomed to dealing with pressure, have suffered a deep disconnection these months. They are not prepared to enter with the force that this competition phase requires and it will be important that the clubs work to raise awareness and support them if things do not go well, “he adds.

Lastly, he recounts the resistance that an elite footballer has to face in the face of adversity: “We are used to a certain degree ofcentricity and, in the case that arises, it has decreased and, therefore, the anguish that they may suffer has increased. I would not know if it will influence more who fights to go down or who fights to win a title. It also depends a lot on the personality of each player. There are some who have little tolerance for frustration and this is not the ideal situation.“