Top 10 Injury Prone Players

jonjoward1998
Jan 29, 2025
6 min read

I listen to a podcast called Match of the Day top 10 where Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards discuss their top 10's on a variety of topics.

Whilst I have been listening o that podcast I've thought about doing my own top 10's on topics that they haven't covered and I've decided to do one every week. I'll do it like they do it by ranking players or teams from a given list, but the lists I do will be ones that I have come up with, instead of ones that are given to me.

My first top 10 topic will be Injury Prone Players.

The definition of an injury prone player is easy. It's a player who has been constantly injured right throughout their career and there have many of them over the years, including some of the best players.

Those players can be very good when they're fit, but they haven't been able to fulfil their potential because of injuries.

And here is the list:

Jack Wilshere

Darren Anderton

Daniel Sturridge

Dele Alli

Michael Owen

Andy Carroll

Aaron Ramsey

Luke Shaw

Reece James

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Reece James

Reece James had to be in this position because he's the youngest player on the list, he's still playing and still has many years left ahead of him.

He had a promising start to his career and before he had his injury problems, he was arguably England's first choice right back. He's struggled to get back to those heights because of injuries which have seen him drop down the pecking order.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Calvert-Lewin had a promising start to his career and it looked like he was beginning to fulfil his potential in that season when he had Carlo Ancelotti as his manager, where he scored 16 league goals and forced his way into the England squad.

He's struggled to return to those heights ever since because of injuries and lack of form, which have seen him drop down the England pecking order.

He has had a run of games in the Everton team this season, but he hasn't been the same player he was before his years of injury problems.

I've put him down in 9th because he's still playing and still has a number of years left in him.

Luke Shaw

Shaw has an promising start to his career when he first emerged at Southampton and his performances there earned him a move to Man United. But since making that move to United, he's had a lot of injuries including that big one he had against PSV in 2015.

It took him a while to return to his best when he recovered from that injury and at one stage, it looked like he was never going to be the same player after he was publicly criticized by Jose Mourinho.

But he eventually regained his form as he forced his way back into the United side and became England's first choice left back. But since then his injury troubles have returned and has lost his place in both teams.

He still has a good few years left in him, but he's unlikely to regain the form he was in a few years ago.

Andy Carroll

Despite having an injury ravaged career, Carroll is amazingly still playing as he's now playing his Football at Bordeaux.

When he was playing in the Premier League, he could be a real handful when he was fit as he was strong, physical and great in the air. He was described by some as an old fashioned centre forward.

He showed a lot promise in his first spell at Newcastle and he at times showed that at West Ham. But he wasn't able to show it enough because of injuries and especially at West Ham.

Had he not had his injury issues, he almost certainly would've had more goals to his name and maybe more England caps.

Darren Anderton

Anderton was part of the England side that reached the semi finals at Euro 96 and was a very good player on his day at Spurs.

He showed a lot of promise during his first few years at Spurs as he created a lot of chances from which he got many assists from, scored some great goals and caused defences problems with his pace and runs in behind.

But as his career progressed, he became prone to injuries and his game time was later decreased because of injuries. His numbers in goals and assists also dropped.

Aaron Ramsey

Ramsey is another player who suffered a horrific injury when he broke his leg against Stoke in 2010. It took him a few years to properly recover from it and it wasn't until the 2013-14 season where he saw him at his best.

He scored 10 goals that season for Arsenal, but he wasn't able to replicate that form in the following seasons with injuries being one of the reasons.

He was a good player on his day at Arsenal as he had lots of energy, could run box-to-box, and scored a number of important goals, including the ones he scored in FA Cup finals. But injuries and maybe not being used in his best position held him back from reaching his potential.

Dele Alli

Dele Alli had the world at his feet when he burst onto the scene at Spurs where he was one of the most exciting young talents in Europe and a regular for England.

He showed a lot of promise during those early years because of his ability to break into the box to score goals and link up play. He did that many times during his early years and his partnership with Harry Kane played a key role in the progress Spurs were making at the time.

But injuries and lack of form led him to losing his place in the Spurs side and saw him out of contention for England. They affected him at Everton too as he was unable to hold down a regular starting spot and force his way back into the team following his loan spell at Besiktas.

He spoke up about his mental health in an interview with Gary Neville nearly two years ago and it sounded very emotional. He felt relived to speak up about it.

His career has been at a crossroad in recent years, but hopefully his recent move to Lake Coma will help him kickstart his career.

Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge was a gifted and talented footballer on his day and he showed it during that season he had alongside Luis Suarez at Liverpool, where he scored 21 goals as Liverpool just missed out on winning the title.

But injuries prevented him from repeating the heights he hit that season and those injuries saw him drop down the pecking order for both Liverpool and England.

But when he was fit, he was as good as any striker in Europe as well as the Premier League as he was quick, skilful and could stretch opposition defences. Had he not had those injuries, he could've been England's first choice striker in the years that followed that incredible season he had in 2014.

Michael Owen

Owen's career got off to a very promising start and it was in those early years where he was one of the most exciting young players in Europe.

He was one of the best players on the planet during those early years as he had the pace that would frighten opposition defenders, and had a knack of scoring goals. He won the golden boot in his breakthrough season in 1997-98 and in 2001 he won the ballon d'or.

But after that promising start to his career, he wasn't the same player as he picked up lot of injuries and especially when he was at Newcastle.

The potential he had at the start of his career is why he's high up the list and had he not had those injuries, he might've stayed at the top longer.

Jack Wilshere

Wilshere had to be no.1 for me because of how gifted a player he was on his day.

He first emerged when Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard were entering the latter years of their careers and a lot of people were expecting Wilshere to replace them and become England's main man in midfield.

But that never happened as injuries stalled his progression and prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

When fit though, he was a wonderful player to watch as he was a good carrier of the ball, knew when to play the right pass, and could control a game in midfield. He ran the show that night against Barcelona in 2011 against Xavi and Iniesta.

Had he not been so injury prone, I'm certain that he would've been one of the first names on the England team sheet.

MY TOP 10: