Minutes Vs Matches

I read an article recently, which discussed the teams that are suffering most with injuries and the concerns as the teams enter the final 3 months of the season. It is largely agreed that every game at this stage will be crucial, especially in this current tight, title race. Vincent Kompany appeared in an interview, stating that he would limit the amount of matches played, for those players who also have international matches. He went on to discuss the idea that appearances should be capped in a season. So should the number of games players, play, be discussed more? Is this a key causative factor for high injury incidences in the Premier League? We touched on this slightly previously, but it got me thinking further, so let's revisit and discuss!

As the above points got me thinking, I curiously took a closer look, into which teams have the most injuries in the Premier League, using 'Plant Football' to draw the data. As it stands currently, Liverpool have 12 players out injured followed by both Sheffield united and Chelsea with 9 and then Brighton, Crystal Palace, Luton and Manchester United all have 8 players out injured. What was immediately evident here, is the variety with the teams listed. You can't help but notice that it includes both mixed level teams (within Premier League) in addition, the teams are again mixed by financial standings. This could suggest that it may not be due to or limited to at least, the facilities and or overall squad ability, as to why injuries are so prevalent.

As an Arsenal fan, I took a delve into Arsenal and their current injuries. Arsenal currently have 4 players out injured. Arguably, the biggest injury for Arsenal as a club this season is Timber, with his ACL injury. It was not only a major injury, but it was obtained on his Premier League debut for the club. Gutted. This does raise questions as to how a major injury could be sustained so early on in a new season. So it seems only logical, we assess previous seasons. I used 'Transfer Market' to look at how many matches Timber played for his previous club, and he played a total of 47 matches! When you add in international football this number exceeds 50 matches. When you look at match minutes that Timber played in the 22/23 season, it totals to 3,743mins. This increased my curiosity, and lead me in thinking, was last seasons total minutes played, a key factor with his injury today? I decided to populate a table with the current players injured. To do this, I used a website called 'Planet Football' which listed the current injured players and then I used 'Transfer Market' again, to look at the number of games played and minutes over the season 22/23.

Taking into account the 60 match restriction suggested by Vincent Kompany, I looked at the players who are currently injured and recorded the most match minutes and the number of matches played. I created the top 10, ranking those with the highest number of minutes played at top. Amari'i Bell played the most minutes, totalling 4,496mins. Bell played 51 games in the 22/23 season. The only player to play more games, was Marcus Rashford, who played a total of 56 matches with a total of 4,300mins played. So would Kompany suggestion of 60 match restrictions change anything at all, if none of our current injured players, played 60 matches themselves?

My hypothesis, although further research is required, is that the number of minutes played can be most detrimental. When we look at common injuries and the mechanisms of injuries, they largely correlate with the amount of stress / load applied to the tissue. Therefore, a player playing let's say 60 matches and consistently playing only 15mins within these matches, is only playing 900mins in a season. The body is not experiencing a great deal of stress and you could argue that the load would be the 'norm' and therefore reduces overloading and overuse as it is controlled, appropriate and would allow plenty of rest between matches, which in turn reduces the chance of injury greatly. Within the table that I populated, the top 20 injured players, played over 3000mins, just to add perspective.

I appreciate there are further factors to be considered and therefore would invite further research into this topic. It would be quite interesting to learn which type of injuries are common in those who play higher number of minutes and if there is any correlation drawn. Is there any relationship with number of matches played and length of time a player is unavailable for club selection, due to injury? Can a comparison be drawn with players who played the most amount of mins and or matches last season who never experienced any injury? I also think that it is important to discuss the impact a low number of minutes played in a pervious season and the likelihood of injury in the next season. With that all being said, if you are interested in researching this topic further, and would like to collaborate, please do feel free to get in touch.