The physio with more opinions that Eamon Dunphy is back again – this time taking Luis Van Gaal to task over Luke Shaw's injury and the injuries sustained by Netherlands players before the start of the World Cup.
Raymond Verheijen was highly critical of David Moyes' 'pre-historic' training methods, which he said contributed to Robin Van Persie's injury woes last season. Now Verheijen has turned his attention to Van Gaal:
LVG is tactically superior to most other coaches but planning & periodisation is not his strongest point: double sessions & muscles injuries
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
During the World Cup preparation, the Dutch players had to do frequent double sessions, so not surprisingly the muscle injuries accumulated…
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
….Vd Vaart (calf), De Guzman (hamstring), RVP (groin), Fer (hamstring), De Jong (groin), Sneijder (hamstring) amongst other muscle injuries.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Again, this pattern is no hindsight but was already identified well before the World Cup as this is just common sense pic.twitter.com/HMlTci4ENG
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
At Man United, in the first few weeks, LVG has applied the same approach and, as expected, with the same result: accumulation of injuries.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Verheijen's loaded gun is of course the curious case of Luke Shaw.
The Luke Shaw case is the climax of Manchester United’s predictable pre-season injury crisis due to 'too much training too soon'.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
The Luke Shaw case is the climax of Manchester United’s predictable pre-season injury crisis due to 'too much training too soon'.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Chapter 1: Luke Shaw cuts his 3 week off season short and already returns back to training after two weeks. Who’s idea was this?
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Chapter 2: LVG shows his disappointment about Luke Shaw lack of fitness. http://t.co/Cu9CHarlaq
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Chapter 3: Luke Shaw has to do extra training to get fit. Who was in charge of his individual program? http://t.co/7mhUKZY6nH
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
Chapter 4: Luke Shaw picks up a hamstring injury and will be out for at least 4 weeks. http://t.co/I0UW3aI8Ns
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
LVG’s coaching skills & tactical superiority often compensate for this periodisation deficiency but there is clearly room for improvement.
— Raymond Verheijen (@raymondverheije) August 14, 2014
His evidence is only circumstantial but it would be interesting to see if there is indeed a correlation.
Impressed with all my legal jargon? I've been watching a lot of Suits lately!
