When I met Patrick Vieira for an interview a couple of months ago I was confronted by a gangly example of an elite sportsman without an ounce of fat.
He had a slight hamstring strain which had kept him out of Inter Milan’s early league games but he told me he was desperate to be fit for France’s Euro 2008 qualifiers against Italy and Scotland.
The midfielder played both games but aggravated his hamstring, as well as Inter boss Roberto Mancini, who accused him of carelessness.
Vieira had only just returned to fitness when he suffered a calf strain and left the field after just 17 minutes of Tuesday’s 2-1 Champions League win at CSKA Moscow.
I have hacked around on parks pitches in Milan and England twice a week for years and yet I have never had a hamstring or calf strain and only ever miss matches because of hangovers.
Are professional players too fit? Are their muscles so finely tuned that they can strain too easily? They need to be fast, of course, but if all the coaches agreed to train their players 10 percent less maybe there would be fewer injuries. Just a thought…
Mark Meadows, Reuters Milan sports correspondent, who once played for Internazionale Peckham
PHOTO: Vieira speaks to a group of football fans during a training session in Milan May 2, 2007. REUTERS/Daniele La Monaca
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10 comments so far
??? Is there really an issue with being too fit??
I mean is there any medical basis???
Mark, this post of yours has me stumped LoL
- Posted by Five TimesMark, are you suggesting that if he eat more pies he’d spend less time on the treatment table?
- Posted by KevObviously I have no medical background whatsoever and I was only posing the question. But this article about cricket makes a similar point http://sport.guardian.co.uk/columnists/s tory/0,,1722276,00.html
On an associated issue, did Stanley Matthews ever break his metatarsal wearing his giant clodhoppers in the 50s? Wayne Rooney and today’s boot manufacturers could take note as my colleague Martyn discussed here
- Posted by Mark Meadowshttp://uk.reuters.com/article/reutersEdg e/idUKNOA52667720070815
That extra weight never seemed to do the late Ferenc Puskas any harm either “Look at that little fat chap. We’ll murder this lot,” wasn´t that what England said before getting hammered 6-3 by Hungary.
He scored over 500 goals and four times top scorer in the Spanish league while playing for Real Madrid. These days he´’d be drummed out of the club and told to take up darts.
Still you can’t mean that modern players should take Jan Molby as their model when planning their fitness programme can you?
- Posted by SimonMuch as I’d like to agree with you Mark, I think Five Times is on to something when he basically says you’ve gone mad. I love the idea of a Jan Molby diet, though. Lots of Carlsberg. Mmm. Carlsberg.
- Posted by London[...] Mark Meadows created an interesting post today on Are top professionals just too fit?.Here’s a short outline:Vieira speaks to fans When I met Patrick Vieira for an interview a couple of months ago I was confronted by a gangly example of an elite sportsman without an ounce of fat. He had a slight hamstring strain which had kept him out of Inter … [...]
- Posted by www.soccersecrets.info » Are top professionals just too fit?How many championship medals did Jan Molby win? That aside, of course Im not saying they should all be gorging on pork pies. It is their limbs that seem too taught and snap at the slightest twang.
- Posted by Mark MeadowsIf their muscles were a bit less stretched they’d play more games even if they’d slow down a bit in the last 10 minutes of matches..which in turn which cause more excitement and goals!
Just thought I’d add a bit of Toa philosophy to the mix:
Filling a cup to the brim is not as good as stopping at the right moment.
Sharpen and hammer a blade, but still its edge will not last long.
Fill your house with treasure and you’ll worry about guarding it.
I have no idea what it means, but I’m with you on this one - professional players are too fit.
- Posted by Patrickhttp://squadgod.com
Mark, you’re clearly on to something here…
- Posted by Kevinhttp://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?Con tenutoId=458865
[...] Is there such a thing as too fit? (Reuters Soccer Blog) [...]
- Posted by Daily Dose 10.27.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world