Some players are just injury prone.
No matter who they play for, what fitness regime they are under, how little or how much they play, their bodies will break down.
Whether it is Jack Wilshere or Abou Diaby, Jamie Redknapp or Daniel Sturridge. Or the original sicknote Darren Anderton. Some players will just always be out with injuries.
That is why it was no surprise to me when I heard about the news that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would miss most of the 2018/19 season with injury.
When Arsenal sold him for £40m in the summer of 2017, I was delighted.
It was daylight robbery. We had got a huge transfer fee for a player who was injury prone and inconsistent.
Whilst some would point to “poor coaching”, the reality was this extremely talented individual was not living up to the hype. He was inconsistent who delivered a lot of dross with a little bit of magic occasionally thrown in.
He would beat three men, then run the ball out of play, or over hit his cross. And how often did he play a cross field ball that would whistle over his opposite wingers head and out of play?
He was frustrating.
At Liverpool he did not really improve. Some people decided to get hyped up about him. Those who used him to highlight Arsene Wenger killing players careers. The Liverpool fans who refused to accept their club had wasted £40m. And the Scouse loving media who wanted to paint Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool in a positive light.
Oxlade-Chamberlain did two things for the media. It gave them a reason to criticise Arsenal and Wenger, whilst praising Liverpool and Klopp.
Last season, he started just 14 league games; which highlights his inconsistency that he was not a first team regular for Liverpool. He scored just 3 goals with 7 assists. The year before playing right back for Arsenal he played a similar amount of minutes, scoring 2 goals with 7 assists.
In fact, when you analyse his statistics from the last two years, you can see how little he did actually improve; if at all.
On leaving, he seemed to blame Arsenal for a lot of his failures. A frustration of playing out of position they key one. What he failed to do was take any blame for his lack of improvement.
Players themselves have to be hungry and have the desire to improve. You could have the best teachers in the world, but if the student is lazy and disinterested, there will not be improvements.
Oxlade-Chamberlain thought he was good enough to play regularly in the centre of the park for a top team. He literally thought he was better than what he was. He moved to Liverpool and failed to play regularly in the middle of the park.
Compare him to Aaron Ramsey.
The Welshman is vastly superior, and it was him that was keeping the Englishman out of the Arsenal team.
I always compare Theo Walcott to Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The Ox is clearly the more naturally gifted, technical footballer, but he had very little output. He does not get the goals or assists that his natural talent should bring.
Meanwhile, Walcott is less talented, but his output was incredible.
Oxlade-Chamberlain turns 25 in August, he has just 12 career Premier League goals. Walcott turned 25 in 2014. In the season before he scored 14 goals in the single season.
Even if we remove the debate about his talent, there can be no debate over his awful injury record.
He has missed 600 days out injured since the beginning of the 2012/13 season. That is an incredible amount of time.
By the time he is out injured for the entire 2018/19 season, it will be nearly 1,000 days out injured in 6 years.
At the moment, he is injured about 30% of the time. A year out will take him towards 40% out injured.
There is no debate to be had. If you have 40% of your time off work, out sick, you would be sacked. This is football so it is different, but not being available for 40% of the time is incredible.
History continually repeats himself. A player with a horrendous injury record will not suddenly get better. Oxlade-Chamberlain, like Daniel Sturridge, will always limp from injury to injury.
Arsenal got £40million for an injury prone, inconsistent player 12 months ago. What a deal we got. And we laughed all the way to the bank.
Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC
