Yury’s criticism puts club medical staff under scrutiny
The Russian claims that there was nothing preventing him from playing in the final weeks of the season despite being told by team doctors that he had not fully recovered:
“There was no particular injury problem. I had to miss three days before everything healed but the doctors for some reason decided that, even by the end of the season, I had never recovered.
“Sometimes our doctors just don’t understand. I trained fully, but they argue that ‘Zhirkov is injured and not ready to play’.
“Where’s the logic? If I’m not limping and can withstand training, then why shouldn’t I get through games? Frankly, it hurts me even to talk about it.”
It is not the first time that Chelsea’s medical staff has been criticised as they completely missed Yossi Benayoun’s Achilles injury and only found out the seriousness of the problem when the Israel national team’s staff informed them of the damage.
Also, they made a series of blunders regarding Frank Lampard’s hernia and groin injuries, whilst taking their time to diagnose Didier Drogba with malaria.
Change is in the air at Stamford Bridge as a new manager is about to take charge, the squad reshaped and the scouting network also needs to be improved, perhaps the medical staff need to come under scrutiny also.