Brukner: Torres injuries couldn’t have been prevented

Liverpool’s new head doctor Peter Brukner believes Fernando Torres’s recent injury problems couldn’t have been prevented by better medical care at the club. Brukner, a pioneer of sports medicine back in Australia where he has been the Socceroos head doctor, will take up the role of Liverpool’s head of sports medicine and sports science after the World Cup. Harry Kewell’s personal manager Bernie Mandic blamed the Reds medical department for the Australian winger’s injury nightmare at Anfield saying Kewell lost “lost three and a half years of his career at Liverpool,” but Brukner believes in the case of Torres, nothing more could have been done. Speaking to ESPN Soccernet:

“I doubt the Torres knee problems could’ve been prevented, it’s one of those unlucky things. It’s very hard to comment on individuals, but preventing injuries is a terribly important thing – the good players have got to be out there, if they’re injured they’re no use to anyone. I’m not one to look into the past, but obviously Liverpool have been concerned about their injuries and it’s one of reasons that prompted them to upgrade their services.”

Brukner believes that the Premier League has fallen behind somewhat in term’s of sports medicine and that Liverpool have realised they have needed to do something about it:

“They (Liverpool) realised that Premier League clubs are a bit behind in medical care and the way they look after players so it’s a chance to come in and improve things. It’s interesting, I guess it’s not a big part of the British football culture and maybe a bit of a lack of understanding in terms of how sports medicine has progressed in the last decade or two.There’s a lack of awareness around the place but some of the clubs are starting to realise there’s a better way to do things.”

The Australian has come to England for the last month of the season to see how the Liverpool medical department works so he can hit the ground running when he takes up his job in July. Let’s hope that he can keep Torres & Co fit.