Medical expert: Liverpool have a ‘real issue’ amid ‘addiction’ claim
Certain Liverpool stars may be addicted to high-intensity exercise – and that could be damaging when they are meant to be resting up in the close season.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis.
Sports science professional Steve Barrett told The Athletic last Thursday (30 June) that “a lot of player of footballers are addicted to exercise and it’s a case of helping them manage that.”
Barett, who worked alongside Andy Robertson during his time at Hull City, was discussing the trend of elite stars conducting gruelling training programmes in the off-season.
Dinnery described some players’ apparent addiction to exercise as a “real issue”.
“Players need to switch off, not just physically but psychologically over the off-season,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“Over the course of the normal domestic campaign, that is fairly easy to do internally because players are meeting with the backroom staff and sports science department.
“They are being monitored and tested constantly and in every aspect when they are with the club.
“But when they come into the close season, the demands to come back better and sharper are getting greater and greater. That is driven by social media and the weight of public expectation.
“Then you have these end-of-season international games shoehorned in, then the pre-season friendlies. It’s very frenetic and they come thick and fast. There are no shortcuts and that’s what drives players to keep on pushing.
“These guys don’t get where they are through coincidence. But that will and commitment to push the boundaries does come with a downside.
“Sometimes the line between hard-working and overworking can become blurred. At that point, you’re liable to break down. It’s a very reasonable and real issue that some clubs have to deal with.”
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