Study Backs Winter Break
A recent study that compares injuries to players in the Premiership and Bundesliga has given positive backing for the calls for a winter break and also provides evidence that possibly explains England’s relatively poor record in the major championships.A recent study that compares injuries to players in the Premiership and Bundesliga has given positive backing for the calls for a winter break and also provides evidence that possibly explains England’s relatively poor record in the major championships.
Together with Swiss reinsurer Converium, actuarial firm EMB Consultancy LLB have compiled the most detailed analysis ever of footballer injury patterns among top players in England and Germany.
The key findings are:
• English Premiership players face an increased likelihood of injury in the second half of the season compared to their German counterparts, who benefit from a mid-season break
• Fringe Premiership players take longer to recover from a significant injury (as key players are rushed back into the team and perhaps have first call on their club’s medical facilities)
• Clubs with smaller squads do not appear to suffer any more long-term injuries (although they may find it harder to replace their injured players within the team)
• Goalkeepers are a third less likely to suffer long-term injury than outfield players
• There is no significant difference in injury rates among strikers, midfield players and defenders
• Between the ages of 18 and 26 there is a steady increase in injury rates. However, contrary to the intuitive assumption that players become more injury-prone as they get older, it seems that a 35-year-old Premiership player is no more likely to be out through injury for a month or more than a 26-year-old. It may be that the more injury-prone footballers tend to stop playing at an earlier age, protecting the injury rates at higher ages from excessive deterioration
• There is some evidence (though this is far from conclusive) that teams finishing in the top five of the Premiership will be more injury-prone during the following season (perhaps as players at these clubs tend to play many European and international matches)
• There is also some evidence (though again not conclusive) that players from clubs who finished higher in the Premiership during the previous season take less time to recover from long-term injuries. It may be that more successful clubs are able to provide better medical treatment for injured players.
Reporting on the EMB web site, senior consultant Paul Murray stated: “The most headline-grabbing conclusion was the fact that top footballers in England are more likely to be suffering from long-term injuries towards the end of the season than those in Germany.”
“The clear evidence that we unearthed shows that a mid-season break appears to be the main factor in ensuring that when the destiny of major domestic, European and international trophies is being decided, German clubs are suffering from fewer long-term injuries than at any stage of the season.
“At the same time, English clubs (who have no midseason break) have more serious injuries than at any other period in the calendar.
Although Sven-Göran Eriksson has persuaded the FA to agree to a break before next year’s World Cup in Germany, Paul accepts that it’s highly unlikely that any England head coach of the future will enjoy the benefits of a winter break: “As the season reaches its climax, the English players are once again experiencing very high levels of injury occurrence once again.
“But, in the Bundesliga, a combination of more rested players and a period midseason where very few players pick up major injuries means that the number of players missing through long-term injuries dramatically dips just when all the major trophies are being handed out.
“England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson has complained many times about the number of injuries he has had to cope with immediately before major championships. The evidence suggests he is right to keep asking for a mid-season break, as is the norm in most European countries.
“Creating such a break in a crowded calendar would almost certainly mean abandoning the Carling Cup and/or reducing the number of Premiership teams to 18, as in Germany. That would require clubs to agree to financial sacrifice, as well as accepting a voluntary increase in their chances of relegation. Cynics would consider this scenario about as likely as Canvey Island winning the FA Cup.”