Soccer's incredible shrinking shin guards could be a big problem
Some players think that smaller shin guards -- literally the size of a small notebook -- make them faster. Others around the game think it's a major injury waiting to happen.
It is an issue that is dividing football, a classic example of one generation questioning the choices of another, but the sight of a former Tottenham and Germany player rolling on the pitch in agony with a severely gashed leg earlier this month might end up changing opinions about the ever-decreasing size of shin guards. Until recently, shin guards covered the entire shin -- sometimes up to 9 inches long -- and they were made of foam or rubber with a hard plastic shell. But in recent years, some players have abandoned the protective element completely, wearing only tiny pieces of foam under their socks, and it seems only a matter of time before a serious injury leads to a rethink in what players are wearing. Lewis Holtby 's injury, sustained while playing for Dutch team NAC Breda against Fortuna Sittard in the Eredivisie on April 12, looks to have ended the 35-year-old's season due to
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