Team V Real Madrid

[nicdic]

How many premier league clubs are playing in a friendly Wednesday, let alone Tuesday and Wednesday?

This idea that a friendly is no different than a normal training session is odd. Training is extremely controlled.

I think the communal twisting of knickers is rather odd.

During the season we play games in close succession. Real games, meaningful games with significance. Do players die from playing twice in a week?

These are friendlies they will be much lower intensity than Saturday, I doubt any player will play anywhere close to 180 minutes anyway, but even if they did I trust Poch's judgment. He'll know how to get the best out of the players.

 

[spursram]

little Tommy Carroll.

Or Lloris with Kane swapping to keeper.

Joking apart, Carroll started at Spurs as a striker and is still the academies record goal scorer with 50 odd goals in one season.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I think the communal twisting of knickers is rather odd.

During the season we play games in close succession. Real games, meaningful games with significance. Do players die from playing twice in a week?

These are friendlies they will be much lower intensity than Saturday, I doubt any player will play anywhere close to 180 minutes anyway, but even if they did I trust Poch's judgment. He'll know how to get the best out of the players.

Totally agree with this - one of my closest friends (actually a close friend - he was an usher at my wedding - rather than just someone I know) was head of Sports Science at a premier league club until this close season when they had a change of management.

He thinks, leaving aside any separate debate about tactic/player purchases etc., that the entirety of Poch and his staff are as good as it gets when it comes to optimising player performance and fitness, and says our injury record (or lack of injuries more to the point) is very little to do with chance, and more to do with an incredibly rigorous approach to monitoring the players and tailoring fitness regimes