Yesterday I highlighted the chronic cumulative impact of injury on this Celtic squad – Celtic Count the Cost of Success. I outlined some of the possible reasons for that.
One which I did not highlight because I had no knowledge to back it up, is the impact of the levels and intensity of training under Rodgers.
But using data provided by Physioroom.com we can assess his Liverpool team from 2012-2016 to see whether there is a similar pattern at his previous club.
Liverpool Injury Profile
Physioroom track total number of days lost to injury whilst I tracked number of matches lost.
Rodgers joined Liverpool for the start of the 2012/13 season and left in October 2015, replaced with Klopp.
Here is the trend of Total Days Lost to Injury over the seasons since 2012.
At the end of Rodgers first season at Liverpool, the club had the 6th lowest Total Days Lost to Injury in the EPL.
In his final season in charge, Liverpool ranked 19th (out of 20) for Total Days Lost to Injury – that is, the 2nd highest days lost.
The injury situation improved in the following two seasons under Klopp. Liverpool finished the 2017/18 season with the 14th worst injury record, an improvement of five places post Rodgers.
EPL Injury Rankings
Comparing Liverpool to the other EPL sides in terms of Total Days Lost to Injury and Total Number of Injuries, here is how Liverpool rank.
From one of the lowest injury rates in the EPL in 2012/13, by the time Rodgers left, Liverpool had the 2nd highest volume, and number of days lost, to injury.
The number of days lost rose from 860 in 2012/13 to 1862 in 2015/16.
The number of injury events rose from 17 in 2012/13 to 35 in 2015/16.
Since Klopp took over, Liverpool saw the number of days lost to injury fall to 1840 in 2016/17 and down dramatically to 1368 in 2017/18. Last season’s data is not yet available.
The number of injury events fell in 2016/17 from 35 to 32. But then in 2017/18 Liverpool had more injury events than any other EPL team albeit the total number of days lost fell – many smaller injuries it would seem.
Bear in mind Klopp is a proponent of a high energy pressing game and also an advocate of the importance of using emotion as a motivator. In other words, he implements an exhausting style of football!
The more than doubling of injuries under Rodgers is consistent with the trend witnessed at Celtic where the increase in matches lost to injury from Deila’s first season to 2018/19 was over 100%.
Summary
I do not know what specific techniques or methods were used to arrive at this result. Or whether it was just bad luck. The latter is unlikely given the trending evidence.
The circumstantial evidence is that under Rodgers, both Liverpool and the Celtic saw significant increases in injury rates across their squads. A high pressing style is a common tactical approach from many sides in the modern era. This suggests, therefore, that training methods had a part to play in this trend.
At Liverpool, the total number of days lost to injury has been trending down under the new manager Klopp.
The other factors I listed yesterday would all have played a part also – these issues are complex and there is never one single factor.
I can monitor this going forward by 1) assessing injury trends under Lennon and 2) assessing injury trends for Leicester City under Rodgers.
K2 says
Await the stats under NL and Leicester with interest.
Rob O'Keeffe says
As you know CBN,I repeatedly stated on E-Tims that the squad were not happy at all with particular aspects of the training under Rodgers.In fact,several senior players were asked by the younger players to have a word on their behalf.This led to several flare ups,which Rodgers hates.The injuries weren’t bad luck,it was down to Rodgers and his scientists.Congratulations on your analysis.
James says
Have you factored in Daniel Sturrage?!
Martin Macrae says
great article & something me & my mate have been saying for ages is the amount of injuries we have compared to our rivals is frightening n damaging at the same time , a better balance is needed as we move forward HH
Palxrh1 says
Interesting. If stas under NL improve and deteriorate at Leicester we identify and isolate contributory factors
Graeme McMillan says
Off topic.
This is the only thing I can find on Ntcham from L’Equipe from the 16th of June:
« Un départ du Celtic, c’est possible oui, a notamment déclaré le Français. Pour l’instant, ce n’est pas réellement le sujet car je me focalise vraiment sur la sélection. Mon premier objectif, c’est d’abord l’Euro. Je prends les choses comme elles viennent. L’OM ? Oui, c’est intéressant. C’est un grand club. L’Olympique de Marseille, c’est un très grand club, bien sûr. »
https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Transferts-olivier-ntcham-celtic-glasgow-l-om-c-est-interessant/1030603
Slightly different to what was reported in English speaking newspapers. Does anyone have a link to the actual article in French where he was reported to have said Scottish fitba’ is mince?
celticbynumbers@btinternet.com says
Good find.
Phil H says
Are you a subscriber to L’Equipe? See link below if so.
https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Article/Olivier-ntcham-celtic-glasgow-si-j-allais-a-marseille-je-m-epanouirais/1037244
There doesn’t really seem to have been any embellishment in the translation. Even the parts of the interview which have nothing to do with Celtic or Scotland aren’t exactly the finest moments of his PR career.
Phil H says
« J’avais fait une tres bonne premiere saison [au Celtic], et la, je n’ai pas progresse comme je le voulais. On peut enchainer autant de matches que l’on veut mais, avec tout le respecte que j’ai pour mes adversaires, si le niveau en face n’est pas eleve, tu ne progresse pas. J’etais vraiment decu de ne pas etre partir a Porto l’ete dernier. »
Graeme McMillan says
Thanks for that, Phil.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a subscription so thanks for the quote.
I have an ingrained mistrust of the bufoons in the media who can’t even supply a link to quoted articles and I certainly don’t trust them to translate interviews properly.
Google translate must have got better since I last used it. The translations in the media are remarkably accurate.
Chris says
Do you think the sample size is big enough to draw significant conclusions or is it just indicative of a trend?
celticbynumbers@btinternet.com says
Liverpool are 5% of the EPL and Celtic 8% of the SPFL and a number of seasons are covered.
I’d say the number of players covered passes the normal sampling rules – ie 5% plus.
Kyle says
I wonder how much this data affected the downturn in performances we saw towards the end of Rodgers’ tenure. It would be interesting to see how much these trends had a say on creative capability, or whether the lack of said creativity was more derived from the consistent injuries. Slightly doubtful this is really measurable though!