Zvoneontology
Primavera
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2020
- Messages
- 212
- Reaction score
- 1,206
Missing out on Renato Sanches is really not a loss at all. It's a bullet dodged, quite frankly. I've been saying this from the very beginning: he's a fantastic talent but way too injury prone; his chronic injury issues are so unappealing. He breaks down every few weeks or so. How on earth do you expect to build a well-oiled machine when one of its main components is regularly breaking down?
I get that people are impressed with his highlights on Youtube or the few full matches that he plays in. The reality, unfortunately, can be far more disappointing. The reality of the long-haul of a season isn't as delightful and rosy as the highlights or the few number of games that he is fit for. This is a player that you have to be absolutely prepared for because he will miss a good chunk of the season. You have to hope that he isn't injured for the big games and only injured for the lesser, seemingly unimportant games. You have to hope he can recover his match fitness in time for big games when he returns from an injury. You have to hope he doesn't get injured *during* a big game (because that big game could make or break your entire season). You also have to hope that whomever is his designated backup is ready to take over and able to make an impact on short notice, and possibly for more games than you'd expect a backup player to be ready for.
This is also a player that every time he falls over and clutches a part of his body in pain, you start thinking and worrying, "OMG what now? How long is he going to be out for this time? 3 games? 5? 10? Or worse: the rest of the season?" And it's going to happen many times throughout a season. Now why on earth would you want to subject yourself to all of that? Not just as fan of this great team of ours, but a fan of the sport as a whole. More importantly, why burden Pioli and the coaching staff with the potential headache and anxiety that that can entail?
His availability (or lack thereof) isn't even the worst part of it all. It's how disruptive his injuries (or any injury-prone player for that matter) can be on the team's overall development and team-building process. Remember we're still a young squad very much in the midst of building towards something truly great. Something that can get us back to the very summit of European football. We're slowly building and developing a stronger identity and a stronger foundational core each and every season. It's coming along rather nicely at the moment, so why hamper that with a player who might be more detrimental than helpful to the whole process? Ideally you'd want the developmental process to run as smoothly as possible without any disruptions. The fewer road bumps, the better. A chronically injured player isn't going to help at all, especially one who will miss 13-15 games per season. You also need to account for the number of games that he needs to get back into match fitness. That could be anywhere from 1-3 matches each time he comes back from an injury. So effectively we're looking at possibly around half a season worth of games in which he is either out injured or not at optimal condition. This is simply not something you'd seriously want for any kind of serious team-building and developmental process.
Just look at Pogba as an example. He's a cautionary reminder of how bad things can potentially get with injury-prone players on your side. He's now out for 2-3 months and god knows how long he'd be properly match fit when he returns. Not only has his injury deprived Juve of a potential difference-maker on the pitch, it has also deprived them of any kind of serious team-building process with him as an important lynchpin player for their midfield. He is supposed to be the solution and the upgrade to their poorly constructed midfield that has gone on for too many seasons now. He is supposed to be the guy that finally solves their midfield woes, but yet, he isn't even available on the first asking, and could perpetually be unavailable on a regular basis, judging by his injury problems over the last few seasons.
I get that people are impressed with his highlights on Youtube or the few full matches that he plays in. The reality, unfortunately, can be far more disappointing. The reality of the long-haul of a season isn't as delightful and rosy as the highlights or the few number of games that he is fit for. This is a player that you have to be absolutely prepared for because he will miss a good chunk of the season. You have to hope that he isn't injured for the big games and only injured for the lesser, seemingly unimportant games. You have to hope he can recover his match fitness in time for big games when he returns from an injury. You have to hope he doesn't get injured *during* a big game (because that big game could make or break your entire season). You also have to hope that whomever is his designated backup is ready to take over and able to make an impact on short notice, and possibly for more games than you'd expect a backup player to be ready for.
This is also a player that every time he falls over and clutches a part of his body in pain, you start thinking and worrying, "OMG what now? How long is he going to be out for this time? 3 games? 5? 10? Or worse: the rest of the season?" And it's going to happen many times throughout a season. Now why on earth would you want to subject yourself to all of that? Not just as fan of this great team of ours, but a fan of the sport as a whole. More importantly, why burden Pioli and the coaching staff with the potential headache and anxiety that that can entail?
His availability (or lack thereof) isn't even the worst part of it all. It's how disruptive his injuries (or any injury-prone player for that matter) can be on the team's overall development and team-building process. Remember we're still a young squad very much in the midst of building towards something truly great. Something that can get us back to the very summit of European football. We're slowly building and developing a stronger identity and a stronger foundational core each and every season. It's coming along rather nicely at the moment, so why hamper that with a player who might be more detrimental than helpful to the whole process? Ideally you'd want the developmental process to run as smoothly as possible without any disruptions. The fewer road bumps, the better. A chronically injured player isn't going to help at all, especially one who will miss 13-15 games per season. You also need to account for the number of games that he needs to get back into match fitness. That could be anywhere from 1-3 matches each time he comes back from an injury. So effectively we're looking at possibly around half a season worth of games in which he is either out injured or not at optimal condition. This is simply not something you'd seriously want for any kind of serious team-building and developmental process.
Just look at Pogba as an example. He's a cautionary reminder of how bad things can potentially get with injury-prone players on your side. He's now out for 2-3 months and god knows how long he'd be properly match fit when he returns. Not only has his injury deprived Juve of a potential difference-maker on the pitch, it has also deprived them of any kind of serious team-building process with him as an important lynchpin player for their midfield. He is supposed to be the solution and the upgrade to their poorly constructed midfield that has gone on for too many seasons now. He is supposed to be the guy that finally solves their midfield woes, but yet, he isn't even available on the first asking, and could perpetually be unavailable on a regular basis, judging by his injury problems over the last few seasons.
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