Murphy Blames Pitches On Foot Injuries

Spurs Danny Murphy has said that he believes the recent spate of metatarsal injuries to English players is more the fault of modern pitches than the boots the players are wearing these days.

Murphy, who missed the 2002 World Cup in Japan/Korea himself with a broken metatarsal, says that the advances in pitch makeup over the last decade, while more conducive to good football, have firmed up the surfaces making prolonged spells of playing more likely to result in foot injuries.

With Wayne Rooney the latest big name player afflicted by a metatarsal problem and now looking unlikely to be able to play any part in the upcoming World Cup in Germany, Danny Murphy has advised him to try techniques like sleeping in an oxygen tent to try and speed up his recuperation and keep his fitness levels up in the interim.

Murphy said: “When I had a medial knee ligament problem a few years back and I was trying to get fit for an FA Cup final at Liverpool, I ended up sleeping in an oxygen tent, the idea is to keep your fitness levels up rather than to aid the injury but it’s definitely beneficial. If that’s going to help him two, three or even five per cent then he’s got to do it.”