I know some young players who would be willing to play a game with a broken leg, but it is the responsibility of his manager to ensure he is fit enough to play.
We've had two different reports about Rhys Williams who was dropped from the Socceroos squad just before the World Cup after failing to prove his fitness.
Pim Verbeek claimed he'd been playing under injections at club level with Middlesbrough which is extremely wrong, especially when it comes to groin injuries. However we also heard the counter-argument that there had been no injections and it was the lad's choice to play.
Both are plausible considering it was a World Cup year where there was an extra incentive for Rhys to prove himself, while Middlesbrough coach Gordon Strachan needed to get his team back in the Premier League.
Rhys playing on at the end of last season might have been to do with the information he was given too, where he could have been reassured that the problems would have gone away by the World Cup. Rhys would also have been thinking that if he wasn't playing at all, he'd be deemed unfit for selection by Pim.
However, he still had to prove his fitness when he got into the Socceroos' World Cup camp - something he wasn't able to do. The moral of the story is that you need to make sure you get yourself right and not be playing at 80 or 90 per cent with the aid of injections.
Rhys now needs to go away and get himself fully fit so he is playing without pain for the coming season.
It doesn't matter how much time it takes to get back.
If I ever used injections on a player, I'd need to know from the medical staff if there was any further risk in terms of injuries. It also depends on the situation. If you're playing in an A-League Grand Final and it is an influential player who is 34 years old and is never going to get that opportunity again, then I would authorise the jab. But if it is a 16- or 17-year old boy in the same scenario, then I would be saying no.
Generally though, I don't advocate players playing through injuries at all. Of paramount importance is the health of the individual, never mind if they're a player or not. When it is a young player, they have got such a long way to go in their career and you should never put that timeline in jeopardy.
Young player sometimes think that if they don't play, they will miss out or not get another opportunity, but as a coach you should never put your players in a situation where they don't think they can talk to you about their fitness.
The days of such intimidation and fear should be gone and all players should be working in an environment of trust and respect at all time.
Sometimes these young players can do themselves some real harm with further injuries by wanting to play on through the pain.
When I was at Newcastle Jets, there were times when we didn't play young Ben Kantarovski because he was too fatigued. He was simply tired - the more
we played him, the more fatigued he became. Sometimes when you overuse such young players, injuries will not surface for two or three years, so it is not about the here and now, it is about the longevity of these young players' career - which is the most important part.
A key aspect to ensure such problems do not occur as a manager
is to have a good medical team
behind you.
It is the manager's choice if they play someone or not given the information they have received from the medical staff, but you should not have a medical team advising a young player to get through match or training session in pain.
Times have changed as the medical side of football is so much more informed today with the technology that has been bought through. Such problems are not happening anywhere near as much as they were prior.
You need to get the proper reports from your medical staff to understand the nature of your players' injuries. Then it is a case of your medical staff setting up the appropriate tests to see if they can play or not.
Even if managers are under pressure for results, you need to make sure you have healthy players out on the pitch. You might have your older players with bumps and bruises, but there is a fine line with understanding if the injury is going to become chronic or if they can only play a certain percentage of the game.
Managerial masterclass - How does Jose Mourinho do it?
Mourinho is a defensive coach who first and foremost sets up a shape which ensures his team doesn't concede. He is aware you have times when you control the game and you take the game to the opposition, but there are other times when you play off the opposition's mistakes or push them into areas where you can gain possession and hurt them from there.
What Mourinho does well is that he doesn't have many team shapes. He'll play a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield almost exclusively. He'll then adapt those formations depending on the situation, where he can push players up the pitch or drop them back. This is what he always seems to get right - when to push forward and when to fall back. He has an incredible instinct for that.
When he does make a change - either through personnel or in-game tactics - he won't change the shape much and will stick with those two systems.
Another vital aspect which makes him one of the best in the business is that his players love him and want to play for him. Players have to believe in what you're selling and Mourinho's players always seem to buy in.
