Faster, stronger and more robust: how Sport Science is increasing the longevity of players’ careers

By Ciaran Deely

The new trends influencing Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah contract decision, with advancements in sports science seeing professionals now playing longer and longer

*Extracts from this first appeared in Miguel Delaney’s Independent newspaper article on Friday 22 October 2021.  https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/mohamed-salah-liverpool-contract-age-b1943132.html

1) What do you think of the idea that players’ careers can last longer these days?

What we are seeing in the modern game is the ‘potential’ for longevity in players’ careers and this is an important qualification. The advancements in sport science, medical care, performance analysis and coaching practices have seen a corresponding increase in the speed of the game, number of sprints performed by players and of course, a greater number of games (especially for the game’s top players). So yes, the advancements in sport science and medical care can extend a player’s career but the subsequent increased strain of more, faster games have contributed to greater physical and mental stresses being put on the athletes also.

2) If so, why would that be the case? From a layman’s perspective, it would seem advances in sports science are the most obvious factor?

Recent advancements in sport science and player care have greatly enhanced the athletic quality of top-level players in terms of their physical development and conditioning, but also their ability to produce game-changing creative moments in the game. Our players are faster, stronger, more robust and have a greater capacity to replicate the big high-intensity movements of the game. Other advances such as training load monitoring with GPS and heart rate monitors, along with training response and fatigue identification are helping to design and adjust appropriate training programmes. As an example, I am currently conducting a PhD in fatigue and recovery responses with the QPR FC U18 team, where from a very young age now, these players are exposed to this level of monitoring and support services to aid their later careers.

3) More specifically, what are the most influential advances?

Sport science has helped in other ways also. As mentioned previously, there is greater strain than ever being put on these players’ bodies. Recovery strategies have played a key role in adequately preparing the players for the next game, especially in congested fixture periods such as Christmas and at the business end of the Premier League and Champions League. With the correct recovery strategies, modalities and protocols chosen in specific situations, these regeneration strategies can help the players to recover, adapt and perform repeatably. The research tells us ice baths, compression garments and the intake of some dietary ‘super foods’, when used correctly, can have a potential beneficial effect on perceptual and physical recovery and performance. Concurrently, the science of sleep, appropriate hydration, good nutritional interventions and psychological ‘switching-off’ with family and friends can also have an impact. So, the basics matter also! All this is wrapped around the modern player to help aid their careers. Think Roy Keane contrasting his early career eating habits with Phil Foden recently employing a chef to cook wholesome meals at home for him.

4) What physical attributes tend to decline first?

There is a consensus in research that speed is the first physical attribute to decline as a player ages. Their aerobic ability and capacity largely remains. Following an appropriate physical development programme will help mitigate the changes over time, but also exposing the players to consistent max speed bouts of sprints in training on a weekly basis. An ability to repeat these high-intensity actions is also an extremely important attribute and needs monitoring. What we are potentially seeing nowadays, is a player’s speed is remaining further into their 30s. Though with greater need for care and appropriate loading and support. You will see that with players in their 30s doing less sprints in the game, and instead picking and choosing their moments for maximum effect.

5) When you look across the top scorers across Europe now, a lot of them are in their mid to late 30s: Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Vardy and obviously Messi. In your opinion, are these outliers, or is there an overall trend in this direction?

Sport science, however, isn’t the only support service that has aided the extension of players’ careers, especially top players. Advancements in coaching and understanding of tactics and what each individual player needs is helping to elongate top players’ time at the top and maintain performance. Coaches are now identifying ‘moments’ for the big players to burst into life to exploit weaknesses in the opposition, opportune moments of overload in attack and opportunities to use moments of brilliance in 1v1 situations. This is what we often see with the likes of Ronaldo, Messi, Salah and Lewandowski, where specific moments are identified for them and with their intelligent insights. Whether there is an extension of this to the ‘normal’ player remains to be seen, where younger, faster players with less mileage in the tank can replace them and fit into a relevant system.

6) Finally, it’s a discussion that obviously influences players/clubs’ futures. For example, the discussion around Salah’s contract changes if he has 6 or 7 years at the top rather than 2. Is the science in terms of monitoring this advancing?

Just as data insights and analytics contribute to the player recruitment process, the same analysis in terms of performance, physical attributes and injury history is used in the discussions around player contracts. This is an exciting area where the potential for big data, Artificial Intelligence and even new areas such as gene analysis might feature more and more in the future.

Ciaran Deely MSc MA

Sport Scientist at QPR FC

PhD Researcher in Training Load, Fatigue and Recovery in Elite Footballers

Twitter @CiDeely