Future Tech in Football — More Oxygen!

When former Wolverhampton Wanderers boss Mick McCarthy noticed that some of his players were slacking off during training, he came up with a new idea. From the following week, all the squad members were given GPS trackers that measured exactly how much ground players were covering. That left players with little hiding place. And while that sound a bit like a dystopian government move, it's a pretty interesting way of blending science with sport.

“Sports Science” is a term that is quickly becoming popular with most of the world's top teams.  A standard medical team just isn't enough anymore. While it's a still a stretch to say that it has become an essential part of the game, its importance is growing day by day.

New Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal had many things to shake up at Old Trafford. One of his steps included introducing oxygen pods in United's training centre. Van Gaal wanted to ensure his players didn't get lazy in a season that didn't have Champions League football and introduced double training sessions. The players now sleep in Oxygen Pods in between these sessions to ensure better healing. The pods work by saturating the blood with oxygen and increasing the metabolism going on inside, boosting the player's overall fitness. This means the players are training while they're sleeping. 'Cause that's just how Van Gaal does his thing.

That's somewhat similar to tennis star Novak Djokovic's new toy, the CVAC pod. You know how players used to complain about playing in high altitude grounds like those found in Latin American countries?  Players found it hard to breathe and keep balance. Well, Novak's pod simulates those altitudes, helping his body adapt. This basically is Novak's way of getting his body used to everything.

There has been a debate regarding the fairness of all this. Things like the CVAC pods are very expensive and naturally out of reach for many players who are just starting out. Does high-end technology give those that can afford it an undue advantage? That's something we may never fully reach a common ground on.

But if you thought Van Gaal's methods were a bit on the obsessive side, The Gatorade Sports Science Institute can be hired by any club that have the resources to do so. The team will then monitor every step the players take to calculate how that may affect their body. And by everything, we really do mean everything. Yes, players have to report a fair bit of information about their intimate personal lives but I suppose that's the price to pay for optimum fitness. Players are fitter than they ever were. And when someone like Paul Scholes came back from retirement in the middle of a season, for example, the resources available meant he could be nursed back to full fitness very quickly. Does that make it a fair trade for information players may have been uncomfortable to share? You judge.
With the way football is going, it's only predictable that teams will aim to use science in newer and more creative ways. It may not be long before Chelsea or Manchester City aim to create the perfect bionic footballer or Liverpool set up real-life, holographic history books at Anfield. Until then, we can only be awed by the ways science starts to change our game bit by bit. After all, clubs don't leave much to chance since even the air currents in the Jacuzzis players use for baths after a game are calculated. Yep.