When he learned of Neymar's absence for four weeks following an injury to the left adductor longus in Caen, Jean-Bernard Fabre was surprised: "It's crazy that he did that to himself because the shock is not huge.
He is really fragile!
»Doctor in physiology, specialized in the mechanism of fatigue and director of research and expertise centers in Aix-en-Provence and Paris, he deciphers the career of the Parisian striker, victim of repeated injuries and deprived of the confrontation against Barcelona in the round of 16 of the Champions League.
What do you think of Neymar's adductor injury, four days after gastroenteritis and his birthday?
JEAN-BERNARD FABRE.
In my opinion, one should not read the matter too simply.
You have to take the context.
We are in a period when it is very very cold.
Now is a good time for muscle injuries.
You also have the ground which is not very good… It is a set of things.
Even though he really did have gastro, he might have also had a birthday party, didn't go to bed early, and probably had a little alcohol.
However, we know that alcohol or a lack of sleep affect the muscle motor and tendons.
Behind, he finds himself in conditions that favor this kind of thing and as he is fragile we have the winning cocktail ...
Does the frequency of his injuries question you?
When it happens to you a year, you can say it's bad luck.
But there ... It happens to him every year in fact.
It's still crazy that it always happens at the same time.
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Can we speak of bad luck?
There is no secret in high performance sport.
You can have bad luck but experience shows that for all athletes, whatever the sport, those who perform are those who do not get injured.
Handball player Nikola Karabatic has never been injured for a long time.
Because he had a healthy lifestyle, rigor in training.
Federer, Nadal… These are boys who do whatever it takes because they understand that a career of great, great champions is built every day.
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According to you, Neymar has not integrated this necessity?
I don't know Neymar, but it still suggests that despite everything there is something wrong.
And that's what makes the difference between him and others of his level like Messi and Ronaldo.
They are never hurt.
Neymar is as talented as them, he may even be more explosive than a Ronaldo.
But on the other hand, there is one who progresses from year to year, who is able to manage his efforts and has the intelligence to prepare properly because he has understood that his working tool is his body.
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Isn't extending a player like him ultimately risky for PSG?
You have the answer in the question ... Is he 29 years old?
So his period where he is, in quotes, indestructible is over.
In addition, as you get older you pay for all the shortcomings related to preparation but also to recovery.
Because recovery is part of the preparation for the next match.
Your lifestyle catches up with you.
So what is certain is that if things do not change, in the coming years this boy will not be able to make full seasons.
In any case, he already cannot.
It can only get worse.
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How to improve things?
Maybe you have to talk to him, educate him ... But this is not the first time he's done this: when he lacks confidence, he gives the impression of needing to do more to test yourself.
He doesn't have the hindsight and the wisdom to understand that every year he gets hurt, so now is not the time to do that.
What's the point of going to room or challenge a guy in Caen when you have a match in Barcelona six days later?
There is something about his approach to the events at stake.
Was there not an announced risk in making him play in these conditions in Caen?
It's a double problem: you know it is fragile.
A priori, he had not done everything he needed lately to be in optimal conditions or in any case to reduce the risk of a problem happening.
But on the other hand, if you don't make him do nothing, well he's not going to have any juice.
It is a Gaussian curve.
Either he does too much and he risks injuring himself, but despite everything if he is confident and that's interesting.
Either he is not doing enough and suddenly he is not in the rhythm and he is not ready to have the level of intensity that his Champions League match will require.