Insider: Man City should be ‘worried’ now about Erling Haaland amid ‘behind-closed-doors’ claim
Man City should be more concerned about the fitness of players like Erling Haaland who did not feature at the World Cup than those who played out in Qatar.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The Telegraph reported earlier this week (19 December) that Man City are paying particular attention to the psychological stresses that their players will come under as they transition back from the World Cup.
The Premier League champions had 16 players at the tournament – more than any other English club – as Julian Alvarez lifted the trophy.
“No amount of money and technology can bring guarantees,” Dinnery told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“There are systems in place and resources to try and mitigate that risk and help ease that injury burden but it’s a contact sport so there are going to be injuries that are picked up along the way.
“Interestingly, a lot of people seem to be focused on the World Cup and, ultimately, what kind of impact that will have on players that took part out in Qatar.
“What we need to remember is, when we compare that to a typical Premier League season, we’d be heading into a festive fixture programme where a lot of these players would be heavily fatigued. Particularly teams like Man City where the expectation is they’ll play nine, 10 or maybe even 11 games over November and December in a normal season.
“For the majority of those involved in the World Cup, they are only going to have three, four or five games in their legs. They’ll have been ticking over and maintaining that competitive edge.
“Heading into Christmas, I wouldn’t say they are fully refreshed but they will not have that accumulative load as in an ordinary season.
“What we are worrying about is, how are those players like Haaland who did not play at the World Cup going to adjust and adapt to being dropped into a heavily-congested schedule. I think that will probably be the more difficult thing to manage.
“It’s difficult to replicate the physical demands in behind-closed-doors games. We’ve also seen the weather heavily disrupt training and games.”
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