Injuries last season.

[Jammy89]

Saw this on facebook - an interesting read.

Hopefully Bunce can sort this for us, so we dont' suffer the same way.
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A look into the injury situation in the Premier League last season. An interesting read from Henry Winter 🤔

Manchester United suffered 75 injuries last season costing them £33.1m (€39.81m) in wages while the players were out, according to a report released today. The figures add substance to Erik ten Hag’s constant rhetoric about injuries inhibiting his team-building.

Newcastle United had most injuries (76, one more than Manchester United but at less financial cost, also signalling a wages gap). They suffered 14 injuries in December, perhaps indicating the increased workload of the Champions League. Overall, the 20 Premier League clubs had 915 injuries in 2023/24 which cost £265.6m (€318.8m) in player salaries while the players were unable to play.

Chelsea and Liverpool as well as Newcastle and Manchester United all experienced injury levels “consistently above” the Premier League average, according to the Men’s European Football Injury Index compiled by Howden, the insurance intermediaries which work with clubs and national associations. The report highlights that injury frequency in the Premier League was “particularly stark”. 109 players recorded a hamstring injury.

The report comes at a time when players, via their unions the PFA and FIFPRO, are increasingly voicing their concerns about workload and the risk of fatigue leading to injuries. “As fixture congestion intensifies with expanded competitions domestically and internationally, we are seeing more players sidelined for longer periods, with a notable 5% rise in injury costs this season alone,” says James Burrows, Head of Sport at Howden.

Wolves and Crystal Palace were the only Premier League sides that competed in each of the previous four seasons “to record below-average injury levels on each occasion”. Premier League injury costs accounted for 44% of the total across the five major European leagues studied, a 2% increase on last season.

Over the last four seasons, clubs within the top five men’s European leagues, the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1, have suffered a total of 14,292 injuries, resulting in what Howden describes as "a significant burden of €2.3 billion in injury costs". Interestingly, one of the leagues worst hit for injuries was the Bundesliga which enjoys a winter break. “Germany have the longest winter break and as the argument is more rest is needed, and more down time, Bundesliga is telling us the contrary,” added Burrows.

One particular area of concern was the rising injury severity amongst Premier League players under the age of 21. They were “sidelined for an average of 44 days per injury, a 187% increase compared to 2020/21”.

Such is the array of issues that could prevent players playing, clubs are looking for insurance “products” to cover for emotional distress, anxiety and depression suffered by players. Clubs are also looking to cover for accidents during car-sharing by players who, for instance, may live in the North-west and travel down to together to clubs in the Midlands.
Clubs and governing bodies have also been looking at the insurance situation over players who may suffer concussion leading, long-term, to dementia.

[Ragatino]

Yeah interesting how they made it a big BooHoo Poor Man U story about the cost of injuries. Yet never mentioned the cost of our absences.

We still finished above them. Anyway We'll have less injuries this season but we need to bring in more quality players in to improve the squad so that the load of shared across more quality players.

[OwdBillCook]

Perhaps Bunce is already sorting it out.
Or maybe Eddie is, with the advice of Bunce.
I've wondered for a while if our less dynamic, less aggressive, less "intense" approach to this season was a response to the injury problem last season.
A management decision (to be clear, an Eddie-led decision) that our squad was too thin in numbers to sustain the sort of injury rate we had last year.
If so, this might mean both a more cautious approach, but also a style of play that the team will take time to adjust to, and for it to feel natural to them.