Chelsea defeated New England Revolution in their charity friendly, but the conversation is about Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s injury and the source of blame.
It was not necessarily pretty, but Chelsea defeated New England Revolution 3-0 in their midseason friendly for charity. The cause is fantastic but unfortunately, Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s injury will steal the headlines.
Loftus-Cheek was part of the group that was subbed on at halftime. Roughly 20 minutes after coming on, he was coming off injured without contact. The images looked almost identical to Callum Hudson-Odoi’s injury. With the prospect of losing another academy product for months, the blame game has begun.
First of all, the assumptions. It is an assumption that Maurizio Sarri was ordered to start a strong squad. Roman Abramovich was in attendance and might have asked for a strong roster, but that is just a guessing game. The simple fact is that no one really knows why the roster was strong or why the starting lineup was strong.
Assumptions out of the way, now the facts. Non contact muscular injuries are often called “unlucky” but that is not necessarily true. This is the third muscular injury that has occurred shortly after a player has come on. The Pride of London did a thread about it. The summary is that it is highly unlikely for a player to get a muscular injury that quickly without the data pointing towards its likelihood.
That is not to blame Sarri or is his staff. This is likely his highest volume season as a manager and his staff’s as well. Even for the staff that has been at Chelsea, the volume will have been something higher than they are used to. Chelsea has not had a season this long since 2012/2013 and those things can matter in the long run. Sports science can help predict injuries, but it cannot guarantee their prevention.
Club’s like Chelsea are used to seasons of roughly 55 games and even that is higher than average (Manchester City has made two cup finals and will finish the season with 60 matches). Chelsea will end the season on 62 games played. That may seem like a small difference, but if the training has not been adjusted properly then the back end of that will see injuries become prevalent.
But it is also hard to ignore that two players were brought and sat on the bench the entire time. Two more, Jorginho and Pedro, played the full 90. It seemed as though Sarri was willing to give chances to everyone, but he could not shake keeping the side strong.
But then there is probably the most obvious reason of blame: Chelsea simply should not have played a friendly at this point. There might have been a desire to have a more fit Chelsea versus a more fit New England Revolution rather than the usual preseason affair. There might have been a desire to have Eden Hazard available before a transfer. There might have been a belief that making the Europa League final was unlikely and this would have fallen into post season.
Regardless, the timing was far from ideal. What should have been a match that should have been a blimp on the radar has become a source of controversy. The blame is being heaped on to the board, Abramovich, Sarri, and just plain old bad luck.
The truth is the blame is everyone’s. Abramovich and the board okayed this friendly and might have (again, and assumption) demanded a strong side. Sarri played a side to win throughout and the staff may have neglected warning signs with Loftus-Cheek. It could have simply been bad luck as well. Everyone has a piece of the pie here.