Spurs Summer Transfer Window Day 32
Hello fellow Tottenham supporters, today is the start of a hot week in the UK and it is also Spurs Summer Transfer Window Day 32.
With Clément Lenglet undertaking medical checks at Tottenham as I write this on Sunday evening (last Sunday) I thought it would be a good idea to look at medical checks.
Pre-Season starts with the usual medical checks before moving onto actual training.
all the players who until the middle of June were involved with their respective national teams will be missing.
Then there are usually games against amateur sides.
This season we have the TUMI pre-season tour of South Korea and we have a game in Israel on 30th July vs Roma and former boss Josè Mourinho.
Every club is different but this piece is from Blackburn's Head of Sports Medicine Dave Fevre.
He is ex-Manchester United and Great Britain Rugby League, and is also a member of the Football Medical Association.
All medicals will feature the same key elements.
There will be a health check to look for any cardio concerns particularly since Fabrice Muamba's heart attack at White Hart Lane in 2012 and now of course, Christian Eriksen's own problems have highlighted the importance of this.
Since that FA Cup quarter-final against Bolton in 2012, clubs have become even more diligent about checking any heart irregularities.
Having had heart failure myself with a ticker that now doesn't work at full capacity and throwing Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) into the mix, I can tell you it makes a significant difference to oxygen and breathing, which naturally affects energy levels and output.
Players up to the age of 24 will ideally have annual checks to detect any heart-related issues.
Throw some Gary Mabbutt diabetes in there and it gets worse, especially if you also have low blood pressure. How can I add eye injuries into this!
It's a wonder I'm still walking isn't it.
The timing of the transfer will influence medicals also.
In the Winter Transfer W in January, you are buying players who must be ready to make an impact straight away.
A club will sign players who have been consistently playing so the medical team provide an assessment of a players fitness condition and whether they additional work, plus what work that may be, to bring them up to fitness in line with the rest of the squad.
These will include checking the body fat percentages and VO2 Max testing which gauges where a player is currently fitness wise and how far away they are from being fit enough to start.
There may well be vision, hearing and dental health checks during the medical as any one can affect performance or keep a player on the side-lines and if you are paying millions for a player, you want to know all you can.
Risk assessment
The player’s skeletal range of movement will be assessed, that's their joints, key muscles, fitness and any possible weak spots.
Included will be checks on the pelvis. It is an important area being for both upper and lower-body mobility, strength and injury prevention.
Where the plater plays could also affect their medical.
For instance, a goalkeepers will have a check on shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands. If anything needs further investigation then takes place and a further more thorough assessment from a specialist.
I believe there was an aspect of Clément Lenglet's medical that required a specialists further assessment.
Academy players have to undergo medicals too when they progress to the senior squad.
Their development is assessed against first-team benchmarks.
Loan signings will also have medicals, just as if they were a permanent transfer.
Some of the key elements of a football medical are:
Heart and Health Test
A club medical includes cardiac screening with an ECG, echo monitor and heart health history questionnaire.
I have been through plenty of these myself.
These tests may include blood tests and a fitness check. I used to have blood tests every 3 days, thankfully it's once every 3 months now.
The club doctor may well include a urine test to detect proteins or ketones that indicate health issues such as diabetes.
Diabetes, not managed properly can be very serious and keytones were explained to me as an acidic poison that kills the organs of your body if you develop too many keytones in the blood stream (ketoacidosis.
Musculoskeletal Stability Test
The physio team's in-depth look at possible weak spots like the lower back and pelvic region.
These are areas where hamstring and adductor problems can originate.
They may also check for any defects in function or muscle tightness when performing straightforward moves.
Drills in this test include squats, hop tests and lunges.
Isokinetic Issues Test
This test focuses on the muscles and movements such as the quads and hamstrings.
The physios can then work out the ratios between the two muscle groups as they work together to identify any weaknesses which may lead the player to being liable to sustain an injury or may have developed post-injury.
A knee flexion test (which you saw in Richarlisons medical video) and extension drills are just a couple of those used to check a player’s movement.
Deep Scanning Test
In the event of a history of problems, the medical team will have a hospital on standby for a magnetic resonance or ultrasound scan.
Scanning units can be used to assess the majority of muscles and joints in the human skeleton.
Body Fat Score Test
Clubs use Bioelectrical Impedance technology which is a body fat monitor that sends an electrical signal through the body to measure lean tissue and fat.
Professional football players are expected to be around the 10% body fat mark.
Ergometric Sprint Test
This test simply measures a player’s speed over a set distance.
Richarlison
As an experienced Spurs supporter who understands the off-field activities must be in place for the on-field activities to work, I look at all aspects of the club and add my isead as you know.
Many come to fruition, improved Spurs TV, a streaming service (SpursPlay), 1st XI sports psychologist, building a squad of winning mentalities (so so so important), bringing in an injury prevention specialist to add to the medical team and more.
Spurs TV has improved but the existing personnel still need to up their game and ask questions without giving the players their answer first.
Players are not stupid, they don't need to be told an answer and ten asked if they agree, they might just as well answer yes and totally screw the interviewer up.
We interview Richarlison, great. Obviously he is going to say all the right things, although the conformation that came out of his interview for me, was the fact that every player wants to play in the UEFA Champions League.
That dictates transfers.
I would like to have seen Richarlison being asked where he saw himself fitting in at Spurs, what he felt his role would be and what he could bring to it.
I remember going for an interview once, in a charitable organisation to create and run an area educational programme and I was asked what are your three main strengths and your three main weaknesses?
Now that would be a good question to ask a player.
It gives him something to discuss, something he can explain he is going to work on and how, it enables him to bring in the coach and training.
It is a question that encourages you to think and talk.
A question where you give the answer and then ask your question, as we see in post-game interviews on Spurs TV and pre-game press conferences when journalists do the same thing, is a closed question that doesn't encourage an individual to talk.
Managers know they have to say something so will often answer their own question or go off at a tangent because the original question is so poor.
I knock Alasdair Gold a lot, but fair play to him, he has taken my words on board and over the last year has improved his questioning. He has clearly put some work into this aspect of his job and now asks different questions than others often to elicit information.
You'll note many of the others are basically asking the same question is a different form, particularly if it is on an issue they want a definitive answer on, which they are not going to get.
Anyway dear reader, leave me a comment with the question you would ask a new signing, a question you would ask a manager pre-game and post-game, plus a question you would ask a player post game.
Perhaps we could come up with a list of questions which I can forward to the club and see if we can not help them improve this aspect of our operation.
Give it some thought people.
Well until next time, it's adios amigo, adios compadre, for now at least.
1 comment
"What were your reasons for wanting to join the club?"
"Have the club explained what role they expect you to play?"
"As an opposing player, what areas did you see that you felt that Spurs could improve on, to become a better team?.
"Do you see yourself as having a certain style of play? If so, how do you think you can contribute to the team"
"What are your goals for the season ahead?"