Background : There is a lack of evidence regarding the impact of time loss, match exposure, and age at injury on career progression in elite football. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify injury characteristics and their influence on career progression in a German youth academy. Methods : During the 2012/2013 season, a prospective cohort study reported 107 time-loss injuries among 130 young athletes from an elite German soccer academy. Individual career progression was analyzed using 10-year data. Results : Injuries and time loss were not associated with career progression (p > 0.05) in the overall cohort. In the U17 and U19 groups, 24% were able to reach the professional level, with injuries significantly decreasing this probability (p = 0.002). Injuries lasting more than 28 days had a negative impact on career progression compared to minor injuries (30% vs. 10%; p = 0.02). Conclusions : Not only the characteristics of injuries, but also their impact on career development, vary with age. In the U17 and U19 age groups, serious injuries resulting in more than 28 days of absence have a negative impact on career progression. It is important to be aware of these effects in order to focus on the prevention of long-term injuries to ensure the optimal development of young athletes.
He ended up a soullees club where he played a ton and won a lot but eventually got squezed out in the equivalent of a corporate āresizingā and ended up at a club that was somehow worse. Is it any wonder the football left him?
Iād be delighted if Ngumoha grows into the calibre (could be different styles, I know) of player Sterling was, though of course, with the hope that he would be at Liverpool longer than Raheem was.
And yet, his time this season is more than anyone else his age.
Iād love to see a bit more of him, but you have to think the professional coaches, medical professionals and sports scientists know what they are doing with him.
Sterling was brilliant at Liverpool at such young age, though. Rodgers even used him at the tip of the diamond in some games in 2013/14, he could have probably evolved into a more complete player had he stayed at Liverpool. That said, his numbers at Man City were amazing, even if I didnāt think he had become the tricky winger his early years suggested.
Ngumoha would do well to become the player Sterling was at Liverpool and Man City, though from his early days Iām getting the impression that he has a bit more in his locker than Sterling at roughly the same age (in terms of vision and dribbling).
His peak season is 55 G/A and on pair with Messi if I remember correctly. Have some sloppy moments but he is top 3 attackers in the league in that period imo.
Same for me. There are a few sticks Slot can be beaten with, but that isnāt one of them imo. Rio needs to be taken care of. Heās a too valuable talent to be risking long-term injuries. Also he looks super-good when he comes on towards the end, against tiring opposition. But staying on the pitch for sixty-seventy minutes from the start is another matter.
However, I hope that Slot will give him more minutes as a substitute, ie. bringing him on with 15-20 minutes to play, not ten. Especially if Gakpo continues to display poor form.
Comparing Rioās minutes with other players aged under 18 as justification for his 89 minutes across the season is total nonsense. Those minutes came across 9 appearances, with 20 minutes against Brentford when we were 3-1 down his longest outing.
Harry Howell, whoās next on the list of minutes played by under 18s, has had 2 appearances, including 1 start for 71ā minutes.
Max Dowman, whoās only recently turned 16, would have almost certainly featured far more than Rio has had he not suffered an injury in a behind doors friendly against United in December.
If Messi found himself behind Gakpo rather than Ronaldinho, Giuly, Deco, Iniesta, or Etoāo I bet he would have played a lot more as well!
Fabregas had already played over 10 hours of PL football by Rioās age.
Simply comparing his game time in total minutes with others under 18 for this current season willfully neglects context. Itās dishonest.
Everyone can see that heās good enough and deserves more game time in the situation we and he find us in; making a bigger impact in 10 minutes than the senior player ahead of him manages in 80 at a time when weāre struggling for creativity and looking generally clueless.
Giving him 20 or 30 minutes more often than 1, 3, 6, 20, 12, 6, 12, 16, 13 isnāt going to burn him out.
Itās a funny one as Rio looks like the only fresh player in the squad. Look at Gravenberch he looks completely burnt out before the game starts. Yet we can not give Rio 15 minutes every couple of games to replace non performing wingers.
I wonder if the reluctance is also linked to his defending relative to Gakpo and the team set up. Yes, I appreciate that that is not necessarily a high bar for Rio to hurdle over but it could be a concern, for Slot, in terms of how we are set up. In addition, when we are trying to keep it tight and defending, Gapkoās height offers a potential advantage in set pieces if nothing elseā¦
Just to mention, I would play Rio more and have the team accommodate his assets rather than omit him on his perceived weaknessesā¦
Iād have more time for the āprotecting the playerā argument if his longest premier league appearances werenāt in lost causes against the likes of Brentford and Forest. What is the purpose of playing him when weāre 3-0 down?
Arsenal have a special program for him as well carefully managing training minutes and very much limiting gametimeā¦ an approach we are using for Rio. Moreover with his ankle injury they were especially alarmed even if it happened in training for U21s (I believe) as a sign that maybe they should be reducing his workload.
Perhaps we are being a bit too conservative. An extra few minutes feels reasonableā¦ but only a doctor who has been monitoring his body growth would be able to assess the risk.
Fwiw, with Rio on the pitch our aggregate score is 6-2. Weāve gained 6 points in that time (3 games we were drawing we went on to win) and dropped none.
