Sports
Premier League’s restart hamstrung by injury fears
The Premier League will return on June 17 after a 100-day stoppage, cramming the remaining 92 games of the season into just five-and-a-half weeks.
A deluge of football may be welcomed by fans starved of live action for three months.
But it is expected to take a heavy toll on players hit by the combination of a long layoff, little contact training, fixture congestion and less hands-on treatment.
“We are expecting more injuries at this time,” Newcastle club doctor Paul Catterson told the BBC.
“We have had players asking if they can have ice baths after training and they can’t at the moment – all we can do is give them ice to take home. It’s like going back 15 years.”
The injury risk is of particular concern for those players who are out of contract at the end of the season and fearing for their future.
Championship side Charlton will be without top scorer Lyle Taylor for their battle against relegation as the 30-year-old has decided not to play and put a lucrative move at risk.
“It makes me think what would happen if I had an injury now that threatened the rest of my career,” Taylor told Sky. “I’ll be honest with you, it scared the life out of me.”
Olivier Giroud was also out of contract at the end of the campaign when coronavirus hit, but has been handed an extra year on his deal at Chelsea.
But at 33, the French World Cup winner is feeling the effects of pre-season-style training without the help of physios to aid his recovery.
“I’ll admit that if I could have more care and treatment to look after my body, it would be better,” he said.
To help lighten the load on players, the Premier League has not only adopted a temporary change to allow five substitutes per side, but also increased the size of a matchday squad from 18 to 20.
However, the lesson from Germany’s Bundesliga, which returned on May 16, is that an increase in injuries is almost inevitable.
According to sports science specialist Joel Mason, Bundesliga injuries went from a pre-lockdown average of 0.27 per game to 0.88 in the first round of fixtures after the competition resumed.
“The early indications from both training and matches continue to point in one direction – that post-lockdown injury rates are comfortably outside the boundaries of the typically observed injury rates,” Mason wrote in a blog post.
Conditioning expert Raymond Verheijen has been a consistent critic of the grind Premier League players are put under even without the complicating factor of coronavirus.
The Dutchman, who served as part of Guus Hiddink’s coaching staff and has worked with Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City in the past described the return as “Russian roulette with the health of players at stake.”
“I am convinced the players sense the danger, but they are in a difficult and dependent position,” Verheijen told the Mirror.
There is so much still to play for at both ends of the Premier League that players can ill afford to bed themselves back into rhythm.
The battle for survival or European qualification could come down to those lucky enough to have their stars on the pitch and not the treatment table. – worldfootball.net
Attention will be at the Golden City Park in Berekum tomorrow as Hearts of Oak lock horns with Berekum Chelsea FC in a Ghana Premier League Matchday 6 game that promises an electrifying atmosphere.
Lying sixth on the league table with two wins and three draws, the Phobians visit a ground that has been favourable to them in recent times. In their last three visits to the Golden City Park, Hearts have amassed seven out of nine points, putting them in strong contention to win.
Head Coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani says, “The team is making progress in its tactical identity despite the lack of goals, and this is something we are working on ahead of this game.”
Hearts will come face-to-face with former coach Samuel Boadu, whose side lies a distant 13th on the league table with a win and a draw from four games. Coach Boadu is yet to celebrate a victory over the Phobians since joining the Berekum lads and would hope this fixture marks a turnaround.
Ninth-placed Vision FC would trek to the Nana Fosu Gyeabour Park in Bechem to play Bechem United, while new boys Hohoe United host Aduana FC at the Hohoe Sports Stadium.
Returnees Swedru All Blacks will welcome Basake Holy Stars to the Swedru Sports Stadium, with defending league champions Bibiani Gold Stars staying put at their backyard, the Dun’s Park, to welcome second-placed Heart of Lions FC on Monday.
Today at the TnA Stadium in Tarkwa, Medeama SC will clash with Samartex FC in a Western derby. Other games scheduled for today would see Eleven Wonders FC host Karela United at the Swedru Sports Stadium, while Dreams FC face Nations FC at the Tuba Astro Turf.
By Raymond Ackumey
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Ghana coach Otto Addo may not command the kind of fear and respect like Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Luis Enrique and others in the modern game, but in his small corner, he is gradually climbing the ladder to greatness in Ghana, Africa and the world at large.
The aforementioned coaches attained greatness with club sides and, therefore, open an argument over whether one is not comparing apples to oranges. But no matter how one looks at it, they are all coaches harbouring similar ambitions to attain greatness in their fields.
Otto Addo is one of the young and upcoming coaches holding a lot of promise and was getting experience with his association with Borussia Dortmund in Germany until his path was directed by a Ghana call.
Although he was born in Germany, Otto Addo’s association with Ghana football dates back to 1999, spanning a period of about seven years; commencing with a 5–0 rout of Eritrea on February 28. He gained international prominence when he joined the squad for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. He featured as a midfielder in the team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
But like it’s often said, a prophet is not recognised in his own home and his efforts partially went unnoticed. He’ll go into the annals as one of the Black Stars coaches to have been fairly or otherwise criticised not just by ‘football people’ but fans who doubted him.
His sack has been discussed at various platforms by people whose knowledge and tactical acumen about the game remains questionable. Ghana’s Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Adams, at one point openly stated his doubts over Otto Addo’s ability to actually deliver.
No coach would feel secured in such turbulent times, but coach Otto Addo kept his calm and composure. On the corridors of his employers, however, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kurt Okraku, openly rallied support for him, though a few ‘doubting Thomases’ still questioned his credentials.
That painted a picture of a people that forget easily and are quick to crucify. In a brief moment of adversity, Ghanaians forgot how Otto Addo was brought in to pluck qualification for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup from the jaws of the Super Eagles of Nigeria with a solitary goal over two legs.
The upshot of that feat was not one any Nigerian would want to remember. The scenes after the match were awfully chaotic, as fans vented their anger on facilities at the stadium. Back in Ghana, it was partying all night and day.
Otto Addo was labeled the football magician. He achieved something no Ghanaian coach had ever accomplished; a feat which Ghana with her all-time best teams could not attain. That was the climax to which Otto Addo took Ghana football, generating calls to start believing in the Ghanaian coach.
Following that to the World Cup proper was another story altogether. It was, or may have been, our poorest show at any of the four World Cup appearances. And just as it was stipulated in his contract, he bowed out after the Qatar World Cup to mind his Borussia Dortmund business with peace.
But as fate would have it, nature found a way to renew his romance with Ghana football after an unconvincing start to the America, Canada and Mexico dream World Cup under special advisor turned coach, Chris Hughton.
Ghana started the qualifiers on a winning note but not a convincing performance. It was saved by an Inaki Williams goal scored on the sixth minute of additional time against Madagascar at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium. The Black Stars then slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the Stade de Moroni to Comoros to heighten calls for a new technical direction.
Then stepped in Otto Addo when Ghana occupied the fourth position in Group I with three points but with the countries in the group evenly matched.
By Andrew Nortey
