Since everyone is on this negative trend

[St Eve]

Why have we had so many injuries this season- Diarra, Sidwell, Kaca, Frei, Petric, Schwarzer, Risse, Ruiz

[JohnKovacs]

Don't forget Duff, and IIRC Reither missed a game or two early on.

[Jack Fulham]

I blame Jol :54:

and you forgot Richardson!

[EJL]

Berbatov missed a couple of games. Every player takes the odd knock, though.

[BillNRoc]

Most teams have to deal with injuries to key players -- look at Newcastle, darlings of the league a year ago, fellow strugglers with FFC this year. Don't you think it would be going better for them if Cabaye and Ben Arfa were on the pitch more of the time?

This illustrates one of the key differences between the "big" clubs and the rest -- Rooney is out injured, but Man U still has RVP, Welbeck and Chicharito available. When Ruiz is out, FFC are s*it out of luck. Torres disappoints, and Chelsea brings on Demba Ba; Petric disappoints, and FFC brings on Rodallega. Money talks, and the ones who don't have it slide downwards.

[mangoputney]

Berbatov missed a couple of games. Every player takes the odd knock, though.

Berbatov misses most games

[Berserker]

Berbatov missed a couple of games. Every player takes the odd knock, though.

Berbatov misses most games

That's a good one, haha

[cottage cheese]

from that list I would keep sidwell, kaca frei and maybe Ruiz.
The others need to go in the summer to allow for younger players to come in. For me Ruiz has got till the summer to really show hes ready to step up on a regular basis. Has his flashes of skill and ability dont get me wrong but he has been injured too many times and has not shown any real form to justify his fee. Hes like the new AJ! Spent most of sat flicking his hair out of the way compared to winning the ball or making any contribution.

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

Well "flick me!"
How can you say "Ruiz is like the new AJ"
AJ is as bald as a coot where Ruiz has a wonderful mane of hair - to "flick" whateva
Of course had Ruiz slightly mis hit his final (terrific) shot it would have been a goal,he (Ruiz) would have been a hero & Jol avoided a further step down the slippery slope he is well & truly on
I am a thundertorm,I need warriors,I hate & loath fans who boo (fair call that one) but to suggest that fans should accept mediocore performances as we rebuild - er with the oldest squad in the Premiership?
He's talking Dutch - & will certainly be going Dutch if anyone meets him @ the bar
Still 18 days left to sign half a team & put it right
If Jol is the one that MAF & the Board always wanted then can you imagine what they would do to Sanchez,Hughes et al now!
Sell his key players before & as the season starts & then give him nothing to put it right in January
Jol doesn't help his own situation & should be working WITH the fans to put this right not AGAINST them
Flick me!

[Oiseau]

Our squad is dominated by older players. Older footballers tend to get more serious injuries and more frequently.

Our squad has been plagued by hamstring injuries this season. This suggests that something is going wrong either with the physio's or with the warm-ups (or both.)
I've noticed that our warm-up exercises don't seem to be quite as vigorous as they once were in previous seasons. I'm not sure if I'm just imagining things but the warm-up exercises before Sunderland, QPR and Liverpool were particularly lacklustre. Either way, our physio team need to keep on their toes.

[cottage cheese]

Well "flick me!"
How can you say "Ruiz is like the new AJ"
AJ is as bald as a coot where Ruiz has a wonderful mane of hair - to "flick" whateva
Of course had Ruiz slightly mis hit his final (terrific) shot it would have been a goal,he (Ruiz) would have been a hero & Jol avoided a further step down the slippery slope he is well & truly on
I am a thundertorm,I need warriors,I hate & loath fans who boo (fair call that one) but to suggest that fans should accept mediocore performances as we rebuild - er with the oldest squad in the Premiership?
He's talking Dutch - & will certainly be going Dutch if anyone meets him @ the bar
Still 18 days left to sign half a team & put it right
If Jol is the one that MAF & the Board always wanted then can you imagine what they would do to Sanchez,Hughes et al now!
Sell his key players before & as the season starts & then give him nothing to put it right in January
Jol doesn't help his own situation & should be working WITH the fans to put this right not AGAINST them
Flick me!

i regard Ruiz in the same light as AJ in the fact we never got the best out of him due to his constant injury stuggle. At the moment the same can be said for Ruiz. Since he joined in 2011 hes started only 27 league games with another 13 from the bench....that should say it all

[RaySmith]

If that shot had gone in on Saturday , Ruiz would be a hero.

He seemed determined to score when he went up front - too late -and showed a lot of determination, and was unlucky.

Before that the defensive position didn't really suit him, though he had quite a good first half.

[AnotherVicHalomLoveChild]

Agreed Cottage Cheese - Ruiz is sadly far too injury prone & I believe always likely to struggle with the physical demands of the Premeirship
Too easliy shrugged off the ball as well
A much more accomplished player than the other £10m duds AJ & Marley's ghost but nevertheless unlikely to fulfil potential & expectation - a real shame in his case
So hope to be proved wrong but..
As for us having the oldest squad & going the wrong way as far as that's concerned - nightmare
A few old experienced heads required but also new young bloods - to avoid the problems Aston Villa are (thankfully) having

[Oiseau]

If that shot had gone in on Saturday , Ruiz would be a hero.

He seemed determined to score when he went up front - too late -and showed a lot of determination, and was unlucky.

Before that the defensive position didn't really suit him, though he had quite a good first half.

I agree. Ruiz was playing too deep on Saturday. I can understand why Jol had instructed him to play there because we could do with a deep-lying playmaker but it didn't suit Bryan. He should really be up front or in the hole. Even in the deeper position, Ruiz still wasn't awful.

I just WISH Berbatov would STOP DROPPING BACK. It frustrates me to no end. He may as well be off the pitch when he does that because he's never able to get back into the box in time to get on the end of crosses.