By Tony Attwood
The decision of England to play Declan Rice for half their quarter-final match in the current round of internationals has been criticised in some medical quarters, as it could well lead to serious damage to Rice’s health and hope for a long-term recovery.
Now I am not a medical doctor, and I am not trying to pretend I have detailed medical knowledge, but I do think this is a perfect example of the problem with players representing their country. A player’s international manager has the player for a short while, and needs him available to be on the pitch as much as possible. It would be too crass to say international managers and their medical teams take risks with a player’s health, but we should be aware of the temptation for the international manager to take greater risks with a player than a club manager will ever do.
Watching Declan Rice play, I would suggest that he may have been on the pitch when not fully recovered from a virus or injury. Further, I would say that playing competitively in the temperatures he has been exposed to (over 33 degrees) has not been at all helpful to him. In fact the opposite. Arsenal need Rice fit and well for the new season. England need him available this week.
And this is not because playing that half an England match could put back his recovery by a few days – the results of this move could be far, far worse than that. For extreme exertion following a viral infection can be extremely dangerous. In Rice’s case it may have no effect, but it could possibly leave him with a much longer inability to return to his previous level of fitness. Of course, England don’t mind that too much – but for Arsenal it could mean losing the player for half a season, if not more. It is possible that he might never get back to his previous level of fitness and ability.
The fact is that with many illnesses we don’t know how much long-lasting effect they are having on the individual. Taking up activity once again after a virus is generally a good idea, but it needs to be done slowly and with caution. Different people react in different ways as we try to get a virus out of our system before taking on past levels of activity once again.
Of course Declan Rice, by pushing himself forward after contracting a virus, could be ok. But he could also be doing significant damage to himself, some of which may not be visible until later. With most infections, what we should do is let the infection come through our system, allow our system to fight the infection naturally, and then slowly return to normal levels of activity.
Which is not to say that medication should not be used, but rather that caution should be observed, and a player being rushed back into playing 45 minutes of a competitive match most certainly does not seem to be getting that.
Now of course, when players represent their country, the management of the country will often be accused of having an attitude in which the player is handed back to his employers with a note saying “have him ready for next time.” I doubt that there is anything as crass as that going on, but the way Declan Rice has been rushed back appears to me, from a distance, to be unhelpful.
As many have said before, fighting an infection in order to get back to work quickly does no one any good. Most viral infections are beaten by taking the right medication, and taking life very easy, in order to avoid any long-term complications.
And here there is a real problem for footballers. Just being fit had nothing to do with reducing the impact of a viral infection. If one still has any symptoms of a viral infection, take it easy.
Indeed, here we see a further problem. Because some will have seen Rice pushed back into football quickly they might think that somehow this is the best approach. It is not. Medication, rest and a slow gradual return is normally the right approach.
Unfortunately, we live in a country in which suggesting one is “not quite feeling right” or one “still feels rather under the weather” results in one being criticised. But in fact for many people, such feelings are key indicators that the virus is still in one’s system.
Of course this approach to coming back to work as soon as possible doesn’t just affect footballers – in many walks of life employees are encouraged to get back to work much sooner than they should. But each individual is different, and some will take twice as long as others to recover from a virus. Which means we each need to understand ourselves – with of course, the help of our medical team. But coming back to physical activity very quickly is virtually never the best solution – although of course I must stress I have no personal knowledge of exactly what Declan Rice has been going through of late.
It is true that as a society we are generally not getting enough physical activity, but this does not imply that a person recovering from a virus should be pushing himself to the limit. Rest can be a form of cure – although international football managers seem to have forgotten that. And I say “international” at this point because club managers tend to be much more aware of the needs of their individual players. For international managers it really is a case of just having the player for a short while, and then sending him back to his club to be “ready for the next game”.
We have survived as a species because our bodies are good at recovering from injury and illness. That doesn’t mean that we should never seek medical help for injuries and illnesses, but it does mean players with serious illnesses no one should not be rushed back to playing as fast as possible.
To put everything at its simplest: Declan Rice probably has a hamstring problem, which would be best treated by a prolonged period of rest. Which is exactly what he is not getting.
