Cjay wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 10:31 pm
But they haven't been and we choose to push and push this squad again and again and again.
This sort of injury crisis has been coming and no excuse for our lack of preparation.
If you push and push and push a group of athletes as Bielsa has people like Dallas and KP and Bamford and Cooper and Klich and Harrison then eventually you will do 2 things.
Performances levels will reach a limit and either plateau or drop and injuries will increase due to the amount of pressure put on the bodies for an extended period of time.
What People keep forgetting when saying how Bielsa and his methods are in no way responsible is that nobody knows that. Absolutely nobody including Bielsa himself or our medical department had any idea what his methods will do to a group of players into season 4.
End of rant . . So confusing why people keep defending this season, it's been a total s**t show and an exercise in negligence, arrogance, naivety and stubbornness
I don't know how you can say the injury crisis was coming due to Bielsa's methods and then say in the same argument that nobody including Bielsa himself or our medical department had any idea what his methods will do to a group of players into season 4.
You are saying that it is due to Bielsa but then saying nobody can know how the effect of Bielsa's level of intense training will be due to no player having gone through it before.
I agree that some players won't be able to hack the intensity of it, maybe that's why Alioski left or maybe he wanted a guaranteed spot.
Some players have thrived though and continue to get better, allowing for dips of form allong the way such as we have seen with Dallas and Harrison. Yes you can argue that players will reach a level where they can't improve but we have seen imporvement where none of us expected there to be with so many players under Bielsa and for some the improvement will continue. I would say Dallas continues to improve despite having been a regular starter now for 3 consecutive seasons (after being out most of the year prior to that so it seems a previously weak body can become tougher).
Bamford went from being out for nearly a full season to being near ever present for 2 seasons so there was no real reason to expect the injury plagued season for him. Cooper, KP and Llorente have always missed a few matches per season so no real change for them. Klich's ever present run was amazing but that takes its toll on any player no matter who the play for, especially given how many matches he has also played for Poland. So I think most clubs would expect a few injuries but we have had them all at once. If the injuries had been spread over the season then we'd likely be doing better.
I just can't see how you can argue that our squad isn't strong enough then at the same time not say the injuries are a key part to why we have struggled this season. That just doesn't stack up. I agree we don't have adequate back up for Bamford and Phillips yet you then suggest that injuries have made no difference, well clearly they have as I am sure we'd be doing better with Bamford and KP in the team.
Maybe we should have strengthened the squad further but equally there isn't an infinite amount of money that the club has. Fees of £10m are bandied about like they are nothing. It isn't realistic.
I understand you saying how can I say injuries haven't made a difference but my response is that I expect that those who have been missing would have had a drop off in form same as everyone else. KP hasn't been firing on all cylinders when fit, neither had Ayling, Rodrigo, Cooper etc. It isn't like we haven't had these players fit at points and none of them have hit anything like the heights of last season. So thats why.
