There are a multitude of factors that have contributed to Liverpool’s pending Premier League title triumph – and one is clearly their use of sports science to help prevent an injury crisis.
For this, they have enlisted the help of an expert firm specialising in injury prevention – with live data being filtered to coaching staff that can alert them when a player is at risk of pulling up.
This is in small part thanks to STATSports, a firm founded in Ireland. The partnership is long-standing but the latest technology is helping Liverpool’s sports science team get live data that can flag up potential risks.
According to Premier Injuries, the Reds have had one of the cleanest injury records in the league this season and this is undoubtedly one of the factors behind their charge as runaway leaders. Star men Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have barely missed a minute.
Using STATSports’ 100 per cent accurate and live data, which boasts military-style precision, Liverpool’s performance coaches can be alerted when a player is close to injury and take necessary steps such as easing their training load or substituting them.
‘When it comes to injury prevention, I am not sure anyone can truly say they can prevent them,’ says Paul McKernan, the managing director. ‘But you can certainly reduce the risk. We can help manage the load of the players, we can help with injury prediction.
‘There are other factors such as nutrition but our product helps clubs move to the next level. As I say, it is hard to fully prevent but we can help in that holistic process.
‘We take an inch wide but mile deep approach. We view ourselves as best in class in performance technology. We believe those marginal gains, extra one per cents, can only be achieved when you’re at the very pinnacle technology wise.
‘We are the only company able to provide 100 per cent accuracy in our live technology.
‘There are over 300 metrics available in our software. The key is looking at the right ones for that team or that individual athlete. Our product can measure step balance – how much pressure you are putting through your left to right foot.
‘It is normally 50-50 or 49-51, if that starts to move off it can flag there is maybe a problem the player is not aware of yet and they are overcompensating. We can also look at dynamic stress load, very sports science-like but it is a bespoke algorithm we have that calculates all of this.
‘If you go back 10 years, players would have put on performance vests and the analyst would have given a chip to the analyst to have a look at. By that point the player has gone home. With this, they can see it live in real time with 100 per cent accuracy.
‘They can make decisions while they are on the field of play. You are making a decision on multi-million assets and this can give them real confidence.
‘Salah’s having the season of his life and that has contributed greatly to Liverpool which is great as they are our client. We can help monitor the load of the players. Tailor it and taper it in the lead-up to a match over the course of a season.
‘We are only one small piece but it is an important piece.’
STATSports’ first client was the Leinster rugby union team and they have also worked with the All Blacks. They have two full-time staff members at the England FA based at St George’s Park.
Of course, it cannot legislate for a crunching tackle on the pitch breaking a player’s leg, for example, but if used properly the software can help minimise risk of muscle injuries. Liverpool’s performance team, led by Ruben Peeters, are clearly getting the hang of it.
Real and Saudis left crushed by Salah signing on
The news was gleefully received, the outcome craved by all parties. Mohamed Salah is staying at Liverpool for two more years and he may displace second-placed Roger Hunt in the goalscoring charts before he has done. What a remarkable achievement that would be.
There had been talk for some time that Salah would commit and noises were coming from Madrid around the turn of the year that there was an expectation the Egyptian would sign.
Why wouldn’t it be known over there? Real Madrid, absolutely, would have had interest in signing the most sought-after Bosman had Salah’s contract elapsed and they would have been doing due diligence in case it got to that point.
As it was, they were never given any encouragement.
They weren’t so accepting in Saudi Arabia, however. It was never any secret that the money on offer for Salah out there was extraordinary but as late as last Wednesday, Al Hilal thought they still had a chance of securing his signature.
It would have been a massive coup for Al Hilal to get Salah and it is understood the news that he was going to commit to Liverpool left them crushed. Proof, if it was needed, that Salah’s decision was shaped by history rather than finances.
Diaz in Disneyland
Luis Diaz has been rejuvenated since returning from March’s international break. He was excellent against Everton then followed up with goals in consecutive games against Fulham and West Ham, the last of which has taken Liverpool to the brink of the title.
It goes to show the benefits of a break. Passengers on an EasyJet flight to Paris on a Thursday late last month had to do a double take when they were boarding and saw Diaz and his girlfriend sitting on the front row.
There were many young Liverpool fans on the flight, heading to Euro Disney, and their breaks all started in the best possible way, with Diaz obliging for every picture request and autograph.
No locker banging needed this time!
How will they celebrate this time? It’s a question that is worth asking as the mind is taken back five years to that most unusual season and, in some ways, unsatisfactory conclusion to Liverpool’s most recent title triumph.
When football resumed after the three-month pandemic-induced break, Liverpool knew they were going to get the two wins they required to become champions but doing it in an empty stadium was difficult to digest.
The night Jurgen Klopp’s squad knew it was happening was when they beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield. In normal circumstances, the ground would have been ablaze with noise but, back then, they walked off to the odd shout, even claps got lost in the vastness of the emptiness.
Back in the dressing room, however, was a different story. To create an atmosphere themselves, the squad began banging locker doors back and forward, the noise becoming ear-splitting and tribal. You can guarantee it will be widespread this time around.
Reds shell out £20m on agents’ fees
Liverpool are seventh in the table… for fees paid to agents in the last year.
The Reds paid £20,835,652 to agents and intermediaries in the last 12 months, which is nearly three times less than Chelsea shelled out over the same period with Todd Boehly’s club spending £60.4m.
Liverpool made just one signing last summer with Federico Chiesa joining the club and the fee to his agent, Fali Ramadani, is reflected in an official document published by the Football Association this week.
Also, the Reds paid out to the agents of deals to bring Arne Slot and Sipke Hulshoff to the club, while the likes of Jarell Quansah and Lewis Koumas got new contracts.
It also shows third-choice keeper Viteszlav Jaros has got an updated deal. Many think the Czechia international is out of contract this summer but Confidential understands he had a clause in his deal to trigger an extension.
Why Gravenberch’s guy was not speaking out of turn
Ryan Gravenberch’s agent riled a few fans this week when he said that he dreamed of the midfielder one day playing for Real Madrid.
But Jose Fortes Rodriguez, of the RAIOLA empire, was speaking in hindsight and not talking about a possible transfer now.
He told Marca in an interview: ‘When Ryan was 16, Barcelona called us. They wanted to sign him, but his father and I prioritized his development.
‘He's good enough for Real Madrid. We would love for him to play for them, but Liverpool would ask for a lot of money. I know they've had their eye on him, but now it's impossible.’
Those last three words should be noted down. Impossible. Gravenberch is going nowhere and it is understood Rodriguez was merely talking about his own feelings about Madrid, not those of the Dutch midfielder who he has looked after for many years.
Young Reds set for clash against Manchester giants
Barry Lewtas’s Under 21s could be set for a tantalising play-off clash with Manchester United in Premier League 2.
We are into the second season of play-offs in PL2 which were brought in to make academy football more competitive and fun.
Each team plays 20 regular-season games and the top 16 go through to the play-offs, with 1st playing 16th, 2nd playing 15th and so on. To win the PL2, teams need to win four single-leg games with the higher-ranked team having home advantage.
Liverpool travel to play Aston Villa on Friday night at Bodymoor Heath and a win would see them finish 12th and drawn to play against United. A draw could see them remain in 16th and play the leaders Manchester City – though this depends on West Brom’s result.
The young Reds beat United already this season thanks to a Tyler Morton goal. The midfielder returned to action at the weekend after missing three months with a shoulder injury. Confidential revealed earlier this season that Morton was to undergo surgery.
Red Riddle
Welcome back to Red Riddle.
Last week, I asked you to name the 21 players who have played for both Liverpool and West Ham.
Here they are: Adrian, Alvaro Arbeloa, Craig Bellamy, Yossi Benayoun, David Burrows, Andy Carroll, Joe Cole, Julian Dicks, Stewart Downing, Don Hutchison, Danny Ings, David James, Glen Johnson, Robbie Keane, Paul Konchesky, Mike Marsh, Javier Mascherano, Neil Mellor, Victor Moses, Neil Ruddock, Rigobert Song.
Well done.
This week, I’ll ask you the same question but with this week’s opponents Leicester City – 10 to get.
Jicceklnr
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I Like you 😍
Zaeceiku
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salah vvd and trent are going to sing a new contract befor the end of this season 💯 pasent😶🌫️🌿🌱🌴☘️🍀🌲