Blind Hammer looks at the medical shakeup at West Ham.
At various times last season, during our worst runs, there were complaints about the fitness of our squad. Whilst we were flirting with relegation there were leaks that Bilic was to face pressure to shakeup his coaching team and support staff. Whilst there were generic complaints about fitness these were really directed at two discrete areas. The first was our record of players sustaining non-impact related injuries, such as hamstring and other strains and their recovery from these. Andy Carroll in particular seemed to be constantly straining groin/abductor muscles and not recovering in expected timescales. Secondly there were more general concerns about the athleticism and stamina of players. We seemed to only finish stronger in games against teams, such as Leicester at home; when our opponents had difficult mid-week matches. In many other matches we seemed second best.
Repeatedly Media Commentators noted that with the exception of players like Antonio and Fernandez, many of our squad struggles to cover our new expanded pitch. Bilic himself added fuel to these comments by complaining about the lack of “intensity” in training after the 5-1 home Arsenal defeat. Bilic also suggested, more oddly, that there were problems with players not being able to “visualise “the necessary athleticism to reach opponents penalty areas.
Many of us were not that surprised when West Ham announced a shakeup of the medical support setup at Rush Green a few weeks ago on May 30th. On that day West Ham announced that Stijn Vandenbroucke was leaving the club to take on what was described as “new challenges” and separately that Gary Lewin, the ex-Arsenal Physio who had last year been made redundant by the England National Team, would be taking over these duties as Head of Medical and Sports Science.
Subsequent to this Gary Lewin started to introduce his own team by replacing club Doctor Tamim Kha with Dr Ian Beasley who had worked with Lewin at both Arsenal and England.
Whilst we, as fans, were not surprised by this move it seems that Vandenbroucke at least was not expecting it.
On the 23rd May, just a week before his departure, Vandenbroucke gave a lengthy interview on WHUFC.com explaining his role and his plans for the upcoming season. At that time he was clearly expecting to retain his responsibilities.
So was Vandenbroucke the problem or was he the sacrificial lamb which Bilic had to surrender from his coaching setup?
The first thing to note is that Vandenbroucke was not a Bilic appointment. Vandenbroucke initially joined West Ham as a first-team physiotherapist in 2009. He worked for three seasons on the backroom staff under first Gianfranco Zola, then Avram Grant and finally Sam Allardyce.
Vandenbroucke then left West Ham to have brief spells in Russian football with Anzhi Makhachkala and Dinamo Moscow. However in February 2014 he returned to take up his new over-arching senior role. Allardyce, whatever we think of his football style, was famous for insisting on what he considered to be the highest standard of sports science in all his Managerial settings. This implied a high valuation of Vandenbroucke skills.
Bilic also did not disturb Vandenbroucke’s setup for 2 seasons.
However the pressures in Football are savage. Vandenbroucke in his now poignant interview on the 23rd May spoke of the ever increasing athletic demands on the bodies of modern footballers.
See https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2017/may/23-may/head-medical-premier-league-quicker-ever
He explained that outfield players now run over six miles a game, averaging 50 flat out sprints, resulting in ever more strenuous demands on bodies.
At the same time, social media now increases mental pressures. Players need supported mental resilience, some reacting badly to negative criticism from fans.
The physical and mental fitness levels acceptable 6 years ago are not sufficient now. You can no longer get by preparing a player for 2-3 hours. Players now must provide athleticism for 18 hours to compete at the highest level. Players have to train harder than they have ever done in history. All this makes avoiding injury that much harder.
Vandenbroucke hints at a systemic conflict between the medical and coaching teams, though he is at pains to reassure that this was managed. Coaches want players playing whilst the medical staff may want more recovery time.
So was Vandenbroucke the problem or the sacrificial lamb? It is tempting to notice that if anybody was to pay the price for last season’s under performance then it may have been convenient for the hierarchy to locate somebody not in Bilic inner circle.
It is however also true that there were undeniably issues last season. Whether this was genuinely just down to bad luck or a deficiency in Vandenbroucke’s performance is ultimately difficult for an outsider to judge. Vandenbroucke may have been just unlucky with the spate of injuries. The proof of the pudding is likely to be in the eating. If Gary Lewin and his team deliver an improved fitness, injury and recovery record over the next 24 months it is likely to be a sacrifice worth making.
COYI
David Griffith