Gavi's very serious injury with the Spanish team has opened at least three basic debates. The first is based on a forceful statement: footballers play too many games. Gavi, at 19 years old, had 140 in the last two years, since his debut with FC Barcelona. He has been the youngest player to reach 100 Blaugrana games. And this is his first injury. He has been playing many games for a long time, but he was injured this Sunday.
The squads of the First Division teams are made up of around 23 footballers. Medical teams have a very high level of monitoring of possible injuries at their disposal thanks to technology. Players train and play with sensors that measure all parameters and are subject to strict nutritional diets. The coaches always try to put the best in the big games and rotate them in the smaller games. They usually train for an hour and a half a day, when they are not pre- or post-match sessions, and they have a large team of physiotherapists at their service. Before they played less, yes. Now there are many games and also many more means to take care of your physique.
There are those who say that there is an age problem. That such young players do not have a body formed to compete at the highest level against veterans over 25 with an anatomy forged in high competition. Yes, but it depends. Pelé debuted when he was 17 years old. Messi, the best player in the world, has endured more than 15 years with far fewer injuries than the innings he has received. It depends on the strength of the footballers. Leo's lower body was very powerful, for example, and Gavi's injury is not due to a blow, in a player who wins physical duels.
The calendar is also debated in football as a business. The clubs criticize the federations, but they do not do preseason because they play friendlies for which they charge good money. The three breaks are tremendous (September, October and November) and there is talk of linking the first two and there are those who propose playing all the national team qualifying matches at the end of the season in a full month. More matches are already scheduled in the Champions League, Club World Cup and World Cup. It needs to be structured, but who gives up the business.
The three statements of the three debates may be true, but there is another more intangible one, which many people in football consider to be main, although it is not the only one: the unpredictable, the bad moment, the detail, the bad turn, what is not It is part of what is planned, what does not appear in cardio programs or in medical reports or in advanced technology: bad luck.
