This must be a strange time to be a footballer. Being unable to play games is a given, but it must be even stranger trying to maintain something close to match fitness when they can't even go into training. Arteta has spoken about giving his players focused homework, which is interesting. I know, personally, that I was looking forward to seeing Arteta's team in late August, having had the benefit of a preseason with his ideas.
I think we can expect a lot of successful conditioning work to be done. I think it would be borderline unprofessional for a premier league football to not have a serious home gym. Players like Saka, Martinelli and Willock may return much stronger, although hopefully not at the cost of pace.
But in regards to the homework, it provides an interesting opportunity. It is not often that so much time is afforded to coaching staff to hyperfocus on tactical and technical aspects of individual players. Suddenly, there is the time to break down bad habits and build from the ground up without damaging on-pitch results. For the players, it represents a unique period of perspective and reflection.
Personally, I think Bellerin may benefit the most from this time. Injuries have stunted a supremely gifted player at a time when one would normally expect him to mature in a tactical sense. He is no longer a kid, but still plays a bit like one. Given his obvious intelligence and character, I would expect him to respond well to a more academic structure to improving his game. Arteta does not face language barriers in regards to English, but it can't hurt to be able to speak their native language.
Xhaka is another one. For all that we (including myself) have said about him, it is impossible to ignore the fact that he is a hardworking, committed player who was always considered a captain-in-waiting by the club and its staff. His positioning and decision making could massively benefit from detailed, patient instruction.
One quote that will always live with me is Mertesacker's automatisms and how important they are to expressing talent on the pitch. I have found automatisms incredibly important working on a high-stress bar, where I had to share a narrow space with coworkers. Knowing, instinctively, how and where someone will move allows you to squeeze efficiency. It seems a silly comparison, but it is instantly obvious when someone has never worked in a kitchen or a bar. It is also obvious when two people are not used to working together. It is hard to imagine translating technical knowledge into on-pitch instinct without the training grounds.
How do you think the lockdown will affect players, and our play in general? Will we take steps forwards, or backwards? Will lazier players refuse to take things seriously, or is that not an issue at this level of the game?
Arteta's Homework: Who Benefits?
posted on 23/4/20
Good article.
I think 99.9% of players who made it to the premier league will be dedicated enough to maintain a solid base of fitness by doing the work that the club sets them.
There's an English youtuber who plays in the American second division and even at that level they're set individualised fitness sessions where they have to log the data back to the club like heart rate during the sessions etc
Of course it will take a bit of time in team training to get match fit but I don't think that's much of an issue.
As you say I hope the players are taking advantage of the chance to work on their weaknesses! I want bellerin to be whipping 100 crosses into his garden wall a day and xhaka to be working on dribbling the ball at faster than snail pace
posted on 24/4/20
I imagine they’ve probably been sent various fitness equipment to their home, if they don’t have right stuff. They’re likely to have fitness sessions they have to complete each week and could easily be monitored remotely by fitness coaches on those GPS heart rate things to keep eye on progress and track their sessions. So think it’d be hard for them to just sit on their àrśe the whole time.
Think they’ll certainly be rusty when they come back, due to lack of match practice and team training. That sort of stuff is basically impossible to practice at home
posted on 2/5/20
To be fair, the break is a gift to our players, half of em are crocked as usual. I think this could be really good for Bellerin actually. Him just maintaining fitness right now, is great for the knee ligaments. Rather that returning to full strength and reinforcing, under the stress of playing/trying to play. He can actually just chill and workout. His knee SHOULD be way stronger when games start again, than it would have been, staying playing the last two months.
Good chance his form dip and looking lost a lot of this season, is simple fear over his knee going again. Hopefully on return now, he'll be that big stronger on the leg and not as worried. Cruciate has got to be hard to get that niggle out the back of your mind. Probably spend the first year just waiting, thinking you're going get that explosive pain again any min.