Rio Ferdinand, captain of both Manchester United and England, is devastated after, just days prior to the beginning of the World Cup, he has been ruled out as a competitor due to an injury to his knee ligaments that the player suffered during training.
Many people may put this down to bad luck. Ferdinand’s injuries are alternately cited as the result of poor attention to prior injuries, and the outcome of a long and unwelcome injury jinx in which players are hurt directly before finals.
Personally, I would like to think that the reason for a rapid loss of players in the England jersey when it comes time to compete is more related to the intensity of the numerous games that England and other players in the Premier League face.
Playing for a top side also means taking part in four competitions a season. The Premier League, The Champions League or Europa Cup, The FA Cup and the Carling Cup. This list doesn’t include any of the pre- and post-season games that occur in a season, or the number of pre-season friendlies in which a team can participate.
As well as playing a lot of games, England plays games with a high degree of intensity. England’s game is different from others in that it is played at a faster pace and at a higher intensity. All things considered, players may play in around fifty matches in a season, a feat which would be rough in itself; however, the players also train and practice year round, increasing chance of injury.
The workload is immense and the toll comes on the player’s body. Injuries are unavoidable with this kind of consistent strain.
For proof, look no further than England’s National team. We’ve already had the likes of Rio Ferdinand pull out, Bobby Zamora pulled out of the initial 30 man squad due to injury, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Owen (who would have both been certainties if they showed any kind of form and were injury free for the past few years) never stood a chance. Wolcott injured a shoulder against Stroke in 2008, leading Capello to feel that he was lacking as a player.
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. Other recovering athletes with injuries this season include Steven Gerard, and Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Aaron Lennon, Glen Johnson, Wayne Rooney and David James. Gareth Barry is continuing to do so and will miss the first game of the finals against the U.S.A. Soccer hero David Beckham finally had to call it quits after an Achilles injury pushed him out of the playing squad for the finals.
It’s an odd quirk of fate that our love of the game in England, our thirst and desire for big games at a quicker pace, more often, is seemingly at odds with the ability to produce that which almost all England fans craves more than anything else: A second World Cup winning team.