Are Marveaux’s groin and Ba’s knee ticking time bombs? 1. Sylvain Marveaux.
Posted on June 27th, 2011 | 35 Comments |
Part One – Sylvain Marveaux.
Signed for free upon the ending of his contract with French Ligue 1 side, Rennes, Marvvaux is beyond doubt a talent, and should be approaching his peak at 25. His signing was also seen as being something of a ‘daring swoop’ after the mighty Magpie seemingly snatched this juicy little Gallic worm from under the noses of Liverpool Football Club. Rumours soon emerged saying that the player actually failed a medical there, something which both Liverpool’s medical staff and the player himself have denied. Marveaux said of this:
“It disgusts me a bit to read things like that because I know it could affect the rest of my career. You can give me a medical today and you’ll see there’s no problem.”
Though I’m sure that this is correct, Marveaux does have history in the long term injury department. He only played 6 games of the 2008/9 campaign because of a torn hamstring. At first it was thought that Marveaux would not require any surgery. However, after club doctors found that a haematoma (a body of blood which has escaped the blood vessels), it was then decided that surgery was required, and the player missed five months of the season.
He then returned to enjoy a full season with the side in the 2009/10 campaign, notching up no less than 38 games in all competitions. He seemed all set fair for a lengthy and fruitful 2010/11 season, but a damaged adductor muscle (in the hip / groin area) saw him out of the side. On his return, he then pulled up again in a game against local rivals, Brest, in what was a recurrence of the injury. Marveaux was involved in a total of only 10 games by the season’s end. France’s official Ligue 1 website reported on Marveaux’s 2010/11 injury woes thusly:
“Rennes’ attacking options have taken another blow with the announcement that Sylvain Marveaux will be out of action until the new year with a groin strain.
“Just after Colombian striker Victor-Hugo Montaño returned from a four-week injury absence, Rennes have learned that star attacking midfielder Sylvain Marveaux will be out for six weeks after aggravating the groin strain that kept him out of action at the beginning of the season.
“Marveaux, the subject of intense transfer speculation during the summer, notably from the English Premier League, after a stellar season 2009-10, has been plagued by groin injuries this season.
“Recurring problem
“After missing most of the start of the season with the injury, the speedy midfielder came to an abrupt halt in Saturday’s 2-1 Breton derby win over Brest, limping off in the 56th minute.
“Club doctors have announced that he is suffering from a serious tear to his groin muscles and will be out for at least six weeks, and will therefore not be back in action until January 2011.”
I’m no expert from the medical profession, but my physiotherapist told me at my last appointment that when groin injuries of this kind keep recurring, they can be very, very hard to stop when the subject is a professional sportsman who is testing himself to the limit on a daily basis. Well, he didn’t say that exactly, but that was the general gist anyway for what it’s worth. Personally, I don’t think that things have reached that stage but should the player suffer a further problem in that area, it would indeed be a worry. Time will tell.
Coming in Part Two – Demba Ba.
all the more the reason to sign n’zogbia or boudabouz and even if he does have an injury hit season, someone in france will take him back for 5 million