Once again we are speaking about injuries at Chelsea, which have been rife for the last few years, in particular this season.
It’s been completely unprecedented, and many people have struggled to pinpoint why the injuries have been so often and so regular. Fingers have been pointed at the manager, the owners, the directors, and the medical staff. But I’ve always believed we will never know who is at fault here, but there is blame to be given and this is not just down to bad luck.
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Well, we are now hearing about one reason that will absolutely not help, and that is playing players through injuries.
According to The Athletic, that has what has happened with Levi Colwill with his latest injury issues.
Colwill has not played since the 2-2 draw at Brentford a month ago, but he actually first sustained the problem at Crystal Palace during the 3-1 victory at Selhurst Park a few weeks earlier.
He felt some pain after landing heavily during the Palace game, but continued to make himself available for games, including the Carabao Cup final defeat against Liverpool.
The club were already treating the issue, diagnosed as a metatarsophalangeal joint ligament injury, whilst Colwill continued to play.
To me, that is simply reidiculous.
Professional athletes play through injury all the time, so let’s not act SHOCKED that Colwill did. It’s part of sport. And to cast it as a “ridiculous decision” is itself RIDICULOUS because you don’t have all of the facts in front of you, Simon. (But when have facts gotten in the way Chelsea News going off half-cocked with its latest indictment of the club, or its owner, or its manager, or its player?)
As to whether there is something systemic going on at the club (like incompetence among the medical staff) or whether all of the injuries this year are just God awful bad luck, I’d tend to be very skeptical of the former and more inclined to believe it’s the latter. The level of incompetency would have to be truly epic to explain ALL of these injuries and it’s a well known human tendency that we overestimate the effect individual human actions have and systematically underestimate the role randomness and chaos plays in our daily lives.
Is this the cause of all the players at Chelsea and is it a Chelsea only problem , I think not , however look at pulisic and Ruben at Milan playing free of injury all season , does make you wonder
I think it’s down to a multitude of things. There is immense pressure to perform at a club of Chelsea’s size and history.
Young players don’t have the self awareness of the seriousness of their injuries.
The medical staff possibly don’t feel authoritative enough to hold players back.
Chelsea’s style of play, which appears to be more deliberate than not, invites physical contact that can result in injury. Just an opinion