Data to Improve Performance in Elite Football

00:00:15:00 - 00:00:39:22
Rikke Grundtvig
Welcome to today's session. It's a session about data in lead performance in football. And today we are lucky to have two of the most seasoned coaches you can ever wish for joining us today, it's two coaches with more than 30 years of experience when it comes to the academic sports world, but also when it comes to actually being on the pitch as elite coaches.

00:00:39:25 - 00:01:13:21
Rikke Grundtvig
First one is principal Welcome and he is a former assistant coach in Juventus and Atalanta. He is also a professor in sports science. He is the one that invented the New York test. And he's also a globally recognized leader when it comes to applying sports science into fitness and soccer. And with us today, we have also Akash Bosco, who is head of physical performance in Italy, noting that he is a Ph.D. and with a box score, he has founded a company called Soccer Fitness.

00:01:13:24 - 00:01:42:16
Rikke Grundtvig
And what soccer fitness is on a mission is to bridge the gap between the science and the practice When it comes to fitness in football. Today, we are so lucky to have you. You have you are running, sold out and also very sought after coaching claims for lead performance. And today you're going to take us through some of the key principles for the next session coming up on data and how you take data and improve elite performance in football.

00:01:42:23 - 00:02:06:24
Rikke Grundtvig
We're very much looking forward to that. As always, we will kick start the session with a presentation and after the presentation we have a Q&A and I'm going to ask Google and Pascal all kinds of questions. I'm interested in hearing how do they see the development of the game when they look across Europe in the lead football. We have many questions coming up, so stay hooked.

00:02:06:26 - 00:02:16:08
Rikke Grundtvig
But for now, I would like to introduce and give the word to Kasper, who will tell us a little more about soccer fitness and also the came coming up.

00:02:16:10 - 00:02:46:11
Casper Skovgaard
Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you. And so the introduction for for this talk and that will also be with Jens Thanks Bill which is a great honor also for me too, to be close to Jens and in the work in my daily work as a fitness coach, having this huge capacity around has been a great inspiration, and I think that's one of the reasons at least why we found it.

00:02:46:14 - 00:03:22:00
Casper Skovgaard
Soccer Fitness to try to also inspire other coaches. The way that the science has inspired me. And the topic of this webinar will be closely related, related to the seminar that we're going to do, as I mentioned in Alicante, Spain, in the national team break and during this talk today we will touch on on areas that will be discussed in in great detail during the seminar where we also are very fortunate to have Marcelo Yaya with us.

00:03:22:03 - 00:03:58:07
Casper Skovgaard
He's been in several top clubs, Manchester United Inter Goma and currently with us the owner as the performance director. So that will be very interesting, especially because Jens and Marcelo share so much experience and both ranging from from clubs that I guess are more focused on development, but also clubs that are really focused on performing at the very highest level.

00:03:58:09 - 00:04:33:00
Casper Skovgaard
And for myself at the moment, I'm in a in development environment, I would say. But on the other hand, we are also trying to to perform the best as we can and we played in the conference league lately. And this balance between performing optimally, but at the same time having a great focus on the individual development. This is a very interesting environment to be in, but let's go to the content of the talk today.

00:04:33:00 - 00:05:01:25
Casper Skovgaard
After this introduction, we have, as mentioned, some topics that we're going to touch on and it'll be sort of an appetizer. Some examples highlighted and then the bridge can be for for you guys that are listening and watching to consider two to join us at the seminar. We have obviously more information and our website is soccer fitness expert here.

00:05:01:25 - 00:05:31:00
Casper Skovgaard
You will find all the info and of course you're more than welcome to to write us if you have any other questions. Okay so the content here, the use of data for individual analysis and development, fitness training in elite clubs, intense training in elite clubs, the use of data for planning of training, research and to play in elite clubs, testing and training load measures, and then planning of team and individual training during the week.

00:05:31:03 - 00:05:35:03
Casper Skovgaard
So let's dig into it. I'll give the word.

00:05:35:03 - 00:06:06:26
Jens Bangsbo
Jens Thank you. Kasper Thank you. Vega It's a great pleasure to see you and have a chance to explore, explore ourselves for our listener to today's webinar, just to set the scene. Football, of course, is consist of a lot of different components and is clear from this video. We are talking about the technical, the technical part of it, we are talking about psychology and and even sociology.

00:06:07:00 - 00:06:37:21
Jens Bangsbo
How does a team work together in order to perform? And our focus here today will be on the physiological parts. And this is a complicated figure as such, but it illustrates that a number of components that are important in football, like the ability to perform towards the end of the game, endurance, to do high intensity work, to do sprinting and to do single actions like jumping, like kicking with a high power.

00:06:37:24 - 00:07:09:08
Jens Bangsbo
And all those components are related to the body and how to body can be developed. And that's what is of importance in a practical terms, because there we are talking about training as you see in the lower parts. But the training has a specific effect on parts of the body that at the end of the day will determine the performance within within the physical aspect.

00:07:09:10 - 00:07:21:22
Jens Bangsbo
So let's take a next slides because from the practice and I believe Kasper, you can provide me with the next slide.

00:07:21:25 - 00:07:29:11
Casper Skovgaard
Yeah. I am actually trying get Yeah.

00:07:29:11 - 00:07:59:22
Jens Bangsbo
Then we are talking about the, the training. Which type of training should you then use in order to improve the best type of aspects? They are. Here we are and we are divided into three main categories the aerobic training, the anaerobic training and the isolated muscle training. And within that part we also have the the power training as as the most common practice type of training.

00:07:59:24 - 00:08:25:18
Jens Bangsbo
So these are the main aspects we need to cover in order to improve the performance of each player and I say each player because as also highlighted here, we do have a huge individual approach because the demands in the games are very different. If your central defender is different from a midfield player, which again is different from an attacker.

00:08:25:20 - 00:08:52:19
Jens Bangsbo
So we have to improve the player in this specific way that he or she is going to use her capacity or his capacity in the game. Let me just take an example showing that in the next slide. This is the slide I want to talk about because we talked about having an intervention with football players in some one scientific study.

00:08:52:19 - 00:09:26:05
Jens Bangsbo
And I said science can help us to understand what is the optimal way of training. And this is an example where we have reduced the amount of training but instead did more intensified training. This means the aerobic training, which is the aerobic high intensity training and the speed endurance training, which is where in the category of anaerobic training, combining those two types of training and reducing the volume actually in a two weeks period, increase the performance of the players.

00:09:26:07 - 00:10:00:12
Jens Bangsbo
In this case, it's illustrated by the yo yo intermittent recovery test where you do see before the two weeks period the performance first around 900 meter and it was close 2000 meters just after two weeks where there was a more intensified training, but also a significant reduced amount of training. So what I'm trying to say that science can illustrate what the benefits of doing specific types of training, which we are going to discuss much more when we meet at the seminar.

00:10:00:14 - 00:10:15:19
Jens Bangsbo
So we may go back and you can tell us more about the data use of data. A Kasper.

00:10:15:21 - 00:11:08:21
Casper Skovgaard
Yes, and obviously the the use of data depends on several factors. One highlighted here, the playing level is that a full time club is at a part time club environment. What sort of resources are there available? Facilities, equipment, What is the the culture at the club? Is it very much depending on the coach or is it anchored to the culture and the DNA of the club and less hooked on on the coaching staff, the player squad, demography, what age are they, what genes to the process, where they're coming from.

00:11:08:24 - 00:11:42:04
Casper Skovgaard
And so on. And then we could look into different potential measures as also highlighted here. And we have put in a reference bottom left and you will see a couple of them, but we can divide those into biomechanical and physiological measurements along side those orders that that could be in there in the library of of tests and other data points that that could be collected.

00:11:42:07 - 00:12:13:08
Casper Skovgaard
So I guess the overall idea would be to have actually a clear idea of why we test, why we collect data and how we use it. And many times it's seen that we do test and the players, they might enjoy being tested, but we don't really use those measured that that we have them that we have then obtained.

00:12:13:10 - 00:13:00:21
Casper Skovgaard
So I guess the key point here is to to find a balance between obviously collecting data, but making sure that that we use it because there is also a risk at least that that a lot of data will be lost in this. And then that people and the staff in the clubs will be working inefficiently. So I think that the main take is to to have a well thought through process of collecting data and using data and yeah, and now I can actually change the slides here.

00:13:00:21 - 00:13:29:05
Casper Skovgaard
So, so that's good. the next topic that we will touch on is the return to play, and it's very much related to, to what I just said, that there has to be a clear alignment between the data collection and the use of data and the same goes with the return to play and process, which is something that has to be aligned within the coaching staff, within the experts.

00:13:29:07 - 00:13:58:29
Casper Skovgaard
And this is a recent paper where the figure is is borrowed from where we see the collaboration between the different departments and how obviously they also work in in relation to to optimize the process of the return to play in any clubs, at least when we have all of these different departments and and people hired and those positions.

00:13:59:02 - 00:14:43:18
Casper Skovgaard
And at the seminar we will, we will dig into this topic and give concrete procedures and tools and tips on how to, to optimize the whole process. But, but for now, it's just very important to say that the more aspects that can be covered in in a rehab face, the better it is. Players might be a bit down from suffering from an injury and and the mental skills and also putting words on your feelings and ideas could be a way to to optimize the process of returning to play.

00:14:43:20 - 00:15:22:03
Casper Skovgaard
Next up here testing and training load measures. I would like to highlight at least that when we focus a lot on speed thresholds, we might overlook demanding tasks that occur at low, low speed such as accelerations. And the research has reported N8 for greater number of maximal accelerations than sprints. When comparing the frequency during a match, and that amounts up to 1200 accelerations and 18% of total distance being covered while accelerating or or decelerating.

00:15:22:06 - 00:15:53:12
Casper Skovgaard
So it takes up a lot of the total player load. We might call it when when looking at the load that a post on the on the players during training and match so at least there is there is a what you call it the different ways of of acknowledging this player load and different angles that that you can take it from.

00:15:53:12 - 00:16:21:00
Casper Skovgaard
But I do believe that's important to to take in also the mental load and the load from from the gym and so on. So so we might not only at least used this dispute thresholds another point that that could be considered in this is also how much the player state you kick the ball around and how much is this load actually accounting for.

00:16:21:02 - 00:17:00:26
Casper Skovgaard
So those would be some of the topics that we would dig into trying to to cover the training load and the overall player load from from a more holistic approach. You may you may say and this also of course includes testing. So what types of test do we do? It also relates back to the topic just before what type of testing do we do, how do we use the data and, and, and Jens has invented the yo yo tests as an example, but also all the test, the creative speed test that could be useful in some environments.

00:17:00:26 - 00:17:39:01
Casper Skovgaard
So it also it's also a matter of finding the right tests that you deem correct for, for the players. And that could also be individual testing. And of course, a team, a football team consist of many different people and individuals with different genes and different positions to cover. So it's clear that also different capacity in relation to all of these talks that we have to to accept and respect and also train in the correct manner.

00:17:39:03 - 00:17:47:06
Casper Skovgaard
So there's a there's a huge individual aspect to all of this as well.

00:17:47:09 - 00:18:23:03
Jens Bangsbo
That as you touched upon. Kasper, there are a number of measures that can definitely help us to understand the individual capacity and the demands of the players we need, need to use. And then coming to to another topic that's closely related, as is the planning and this figure just illustrate that the team may have different challenges depending on how, how much the level of the team, but also how much you have been working on the aspect.

00:18:23:03 - 00:19:09:23
Jens Bangsbo
And this shows two teams basically with the same fiscal capacity in all terms, whereas the one team has much higher technical tactical values, which means that they can actually spend more time on the physical aspect than another team which has to develop. So we always have to see the physical aspect related to, to the other aspects, important aspect as the touch upon in the beginning in football and I'm also bringing up this figure because we know some of the people joining our seminars will only train two or three times a week, whereas we in the professional self may train seven or eight times a week.

00:19:09:23 - 00:19:43:13
Jens Bangsbo
So there is a different approach to the various aspects that you need to cover, depending on how much time you have the players available. If you take the next slide, I may even be able to do that. The pre-season will have a focus as well because that's a time where we really have the chance to focus first of all, the talking about also what's happening before the pre-season, the better the players are prepared before they come for the club training, the better it is.

00:19:43:15 - 00:20:17:01
Jens Bangsbo
So we also have to talk about training in the off season, but when we get to the to the season it can be useful to make certain types of measure. And here is just a suggestion from the book Aerobic Anaerobic Training, where we also discussing the planning of training and suggests in this case the testing and also some elements in the in the book fitness testing in football where all these tests are described.

00:20:17:01 - 00:20:47:13
Jens Bangsbo
But that's something we are going to discuss further because the testing to out the pre-season can help you to understand to what extent you have achieved your your goal and where you have to make further improvements. But in any case, everything is about finding the optimal loading for for each player in the team and this figure. Just to illustrate that the efficient part of the training may be very different.

00:20:47:15 - 00:21:16:05
Jens Bangsbo
It depends, of course, of what type of team you have, but also within a team you have a significant difference in where the optimal loading is for for the different players. And this shows that the black one is a player that cannot stand that much. Loading will get a good effect even with a reasonable limited amount of training, whereas the yellow player needs much more training in order to make further improvement.

00:21:16:05 - 00:21:45:04
Jens Bangsbo
So you have to understand what is the status of your player in your team and these aspect. We will try to cover and have a specific focus, as we talked about all the way about the individual requirement and individual training, which we have been used quite a lot at the top level in all the years I have been there, even back in the early 2000 in Juventus where nobody actually had that focus.

00:21:45:04 - 00:22:17:16
Jens Bangsbo
And I think that was one of the major aspect to to the success we had in the early 2000s. So we look forward to see you.

00:22:17:18 - 00:22:40:28
Rikke Grundtvig
And thank you so much for taking us through the top line principles of the game. Coming off a super exciting stuff. We are now moving on to a roundtable. I'm going to ask you some questions and I think I would like to start with you. Yes. So when you look at the European elite football, what what are the new demands?

00:22:40:28 - 00:22:45:11
Rikke Grundtvig
Do you see from a physical perspective?

00:22:45:13 - 00:23:12:13
Jens Bangsbo
Football has definitely developed in the past ten or 15 years, and it's clear that you cannot, as you could ten years ago, have a player that is having a reasonable level of fitness level and perform at a top level. Every player, especially the attackers, need really high physical capacity, but also capacities related to the specific actions they're doing in a game.

00:23:12:16 - 00:23:34:01
Jens Bangsbo
And so there has been a huge development and that is a place where you see the difference in football and and you need to optimize the performance of every of your top players and you have to optimize it in relation to that to the way they are playing.

00:23:34:04 - 00:23:45:22
Rikke Grundtvig
But what are some of the differences that you need to see? I guess you probably need to train them in a very different way now that the physical demands are much higher. It's getting more intense.

00:23:45:25 - 00:24:28:05
Jens Bangsbo
Yeah, it's it's a lot about the recovery time because in the old days you could allow players to recover as long as they liked and then they contributed when they were ready again. Nowadays they have to contribute all the time. So we have to reduce the recovery time because then they're able to do more high intensity work. At the end of the day, the high intensity works is the thing that makes the difference still, the games are only played for 55 minutes effectively, so they have to perform in those 55 minutes all the time and includes, as I said, also the attackers, because they may contribute in the defense as soon as we lost the

00:24:28:05 - 00:24:46:27
Jens Bangsbo
ball, they are the first one to put pressure on the opponent and so on. So every player needs to have a high ability to perform intense work, but even more to be able to recover as fast as possible because it will allow him or her to perform soon after again.

00:24:46:29 - 00:25:06:11
Rikke Grundtvig
And then I guess the question that everyone wants to ask you after being such an experienced top coach for four decades, right, how do you keep elite players fit? You know, you talk about pre-season in the presentation, but I'm also thinking about how do you keep them fit during the season.

00:25:06:13 - 00:25:38:05
Jens Bangsbo
And train They need to train also during the season and and you need to find the right loading because some of the players may play three games in a week. When you're playing the Champions League, as we have done a number of times, you you can still train them. And sometimes when you just have two games, a highly competitive games week, you have time in the way to to do the training, but you have to find the right training for the for the players.

00:25:38:05 - 00:25:55:01
Jens Bangsbo
We talked about all the time. But you need to train them and it's it's previously you believe that just playing games would be sufficient to keep you in shape but we have seen you reduce your performing as if you're just playing.

00:25:55:04 - 00:26:16:20
Rikke Grundtvig
I guess I would like to ask you Cassper, you work a lot with data in in your work, and I guess I would like to pick your brain on on how do you take something that is so complex as performance data and apply them into a very practical every day where you have up to 30 players on the pitch?

00:26:16:23 - 00:26:25:23
Rikke Grundtvig
How how do you how do you get data to work for you in a in a in a daily practice?

00:26:25:25 - 00:26:59:13
Casper Skovgaard
Yeah, to me, I guess I'm guided by by all the data that I have access to and that's quite a lot. But it provides me as a guideline for where the players are, how they're feeling and how they perform all of this. And then in order for me to, to really get there, the proper feedback from the players is to have the individual talk and give priority to this talk.

00:26:59:13 - 00:27:23:27
Casper Skovgaard
So it's also a matter of being very close to your players. So so there is this mutual respect and, and also for the players to acknowledge that me as a coach, I'm actually on a mission to, to provide the best framework for for each individual to to develop from so so first of all I would say it's very important to have a good relationship to your players.

00:27:23:27 - 00:27:57:20
Casper Skovgaard
It's not very data minded, but in order to use data, you have to to to have the right environment for it. And then of course, as also touched upon in the presentation, it's a matter of of picking the right data and also giving value to the right data. And so I think it's also a way of there's an art to be how do you call it reductionist in your way of thinking?

00:27:57:20 - 00:28:21:15
Casper Skovgaard
So try to reduce the amount of data that you that you, that you, that you analyze and that you yeah. That you that you deem valuable. Because otherwise you will drown in it. And then they might also have like interfere in a way that one data point is, is showing something and the other one is, is showing the exact opposite.

00:28:21:18 - 00:28:49:14
Casper Skovgaard
So yeah it's trying to, to, to make sense of that whole data collection process and also in that Yeah. Relationship between me having access to all of this and then providing the player with what data is is is relevant at a given point in time. Yeah.

00:28:49:16 - 00:29:29:26
Rikke Grundtvig
And banks for I guess that one of the you couldn't maybe almost say one of the countless stones of your coaching philosophy at least this is how I experience it is that you insist on having physical performance with the ball. You want the physical training to be with the goal. And then I just have a question. So if we have a more and more intense game and you probably need to practice more and more intense to be able to perform in that game, can you then keep up that principle of always having the physical training with the ball in a in a in a game that becomes more and more intense?

00:29:29:29 - 00:29:54:29
Jens Bangsbo
Yeah, you can. And first of all, I would say the reason for for using the ball, the reasons for using the ball in the fitness training days now, which are mainly aerobic and enemy training that you are sure that are training the muscles in the way they're used in the game, which you cannot be sure when you do a running because it doesn't look like the football game.

00:29:55:01 - 00:30:24:13
Jens Bangsbo
Secondly, you keep a high motivation of of the players and which is also important even at the top level that they are highly motivated for doing these things. And the main aspect is also you do technical and tactical training with a high demands which you will face in the game as well. So you will see whether the technique really, for example, can cope with that activity.

00:30:24:16 - 00:30:50:16
Jens Bangsbo
Then you may say, okay, they are playing three games a week and so on, and for that extent you may sometimes do some part of it without the ball. But again, the three principles I mentioned are so important that we try any way to do it with the ball and, and we can do that. But at the end of the day, we also have to look what can be the loading of the player.

00:30:50:16 - 00:31:16:11
Jens Bangsbo
And they other data are coming in because we have a clear idea how much we have loaded them and then we decide for the number of repetitions and the type of exercises we are doing based on these numbers. So yes, we keep the keep it going with a ball in order to to achieve not only the fitness aspect but also technical tactical aspects.

00:31:16:14 - 00:31:38:03
Rikke Grundtvig
And score goal. I think in my book at least, you're one of the smartest coaches when it comes to load management, and I know you have a lot of strategies around how you figure out whether your players have adapted to the the impact that you're imposing on them. Can you talk to us about the best practices around load management from your perspective?

00:31:38:03 - 00:31:43:04
Rikke Grundtvig
Just top line?

00:31:43:06 - 00:32:39:29
Casper Skovgaard
Yeah, of course I have that. The best thing is, is obviously to make sure that that the data that you obtain that that they are valid and so be very, very strict in your in your way of obtaining the data. And for us or for me, we tend also to to pool the data in a way that that we look at the acute chronic ratio so that we have how do you say off like a a load that is maintained over a longer period and not suddenly interrupted or interfered by huge spikes, all of different type of intense work, for example, could be as, as highlighted, lots of kicking suddenly like out of the blue

00:32:40:01 - 00:33:16:03
Casper Skovgaard
so that you also in your individual training if that's kicking for example, practicing free kick, then you do that regularly. So I would say it's it's a matter of having, having a consistent training in all the different aspects that that football consist of and then making sure that that and that's been the acute part of it, that the acute load is somewhat in the same area as the chronic loading of your players.

00:33:16:03 - 00:33:43:11
Casper Skovgaard
So obviously it can it can vary and it does when when you play three games a week. But but having an I like a how do you call our focused eye out for this this is definitely a cornerstone in my in my practice and then again having access to to what you deem would be trustworthy and valid data is is this the second one.

00:33:43:11 - 00:34:15:14
Casper Skovgaard
It it doesn't really make sense to to analyze lots of data that doesn't like that are not sensitive to to the to the football play and specific. So you need to also find data sources that that that are so valid as much as possible and yeah so that can cover different things but but those would be my two two key stones in it.

00:34:15:17 - 00:34:36:15
Rikke Grundtvig
I would like to ask you about how you see the different positions, because I guess that we have a lot of focus on the physical performance of wings and fullbacks and simply because they are very fast. Right? But do you feel that there are positions that are overlooked when it comes to data and load management?

00:34:36:18 - 00:35:02:29
Casper Skovgaard
Yeah. When when when we look at the tracking data tracking data that we obtain from games and and and training, it's clear that if you have space to run in, as you mentioned, for the fullbacks or for the attackers on the side, then then you can easily obtain lots of sprinting distance, for example, or high speed running and that provides a certain load.

00:35:03:01 - 00:35:31:00
Casper Skovgaard
But the midfielders stay, for example, they have less space to running like generally, of course there are differences, but but let's say that the midfielders are more limited in the areas where they that they run in, so they do not obtain as much strength and high speed running. But, but, but on the contrary, you might say they spend a lot of time accelerating and decelerating maximally.

00:35:31:02 - 00:36:09:07
Casper Skovgaard
So their load consists more of of, of, of maximal intensity movements that provides an even bigger load to to the body and. So the mechanical loading of the midfielders might actually be higher. But, but and that's why I'm saying that you have to to pick the right data to analyze in order to be to be as precise as possible, because we might, might not be the best thing to do or to analyze the movements of the midfielders from speed metrics.

00:36:09:11 - 00:36:27:01
Casper Skovgaard
So, so yeah, I would say midfielders at least they are them. They are might, they might be a little bit exposed to being evaluated in a in a less valid way when, when we used the classical metrics at least.

00:36:27:03 - 00:36:54:10
Rikke Grundtvig
And by for if we stay with the positions you have so much experience. So from from a long career in elite football and how do you see how we coach? It's a position it has it developed over the years. It is becoming specific how we coach and do individual coaching for our position now. Or have you also seen that positions peak in different ways?

00:36:54:10 - 00:37:01:09
Rikke Grundtvig
So are there anything we should take into account when we train for the specific positions?

00:37:01:12 - 00:37:31:00
Jens Bangsbo
Now? It has definitely had had a much more focus in recent years and that's what it should have and I think it's one of the aspects that Kasper touched upon is that some instances, traditional way of measuring things, we have probably we excluded some important information like these short acceleration, like we've talking about pressing the first three or four meters.

00:37:31:00 - 00:38:02:21
Jens Bangsbo
When you do your pressing is really demanding, but you won't see that in in your speech measurements as such. So we have used the data, but we need still to have more data to specify these type of demands in the game. And and then make it in practice. So what we do is to looking at the activities of the players in the game and then we try to resemble those in the exercises they are.

00:38:02:21 - 00:38:07:25
Jens Bangsbo
There's huge need for developing that further.

00:38:07:27 - 00:38:42:14
Rikke Grundtvig
And, and. Kasper I think to, to end on a high, I would like to, to ask you for something I call the winning your winning recipe. And I know that you think I might go too far with that recipe, but still, I know that you, in your in your work you've been looking into and both on the field, but also as a in your piece and in your scientific work that you've been into, how the intensity of the play will increase your chances of winning.

00:38:42:14 - 00:38:48:08
Rikke Grundtvig
Can you share a little bit about what is it that you find.

00:38:48:10 - 00:39:20:05
Casper Skovgaard
Might not be strictly scientific proven? But my observations at least is that the more intense we work that the higher the chance of obtaining three points. So maybe one day we can we can publish on it. But but let's see. I think this is also in line with what Jens was saying, that we need to train and I think we need to train hard and also smart, of course.

00:39:20:05 - 00:39:46:24
Casper Skovgaard
But but that the very, very high intensity training that was also the theme of my of my PhD in my research at the University of Copenhagen is something that I believe strongly. And so now asking for my winning recipe and I would say that it consists of lots of speed, endurance training, repeated all out movements for longer periods of time.

00:39:46:26 - 00:40:12:07
Casper Skovgaard
And I'm sure when the pre-season now that my players currently they will sign this off as being potent training but also very, very tiring mentally also quite demanding. But as soon as you are done with it, then they can really feel that they have they have trained their guts out and that they have invested in their own physical performance.

00:40:12:07 - 00:40:45:01
Casper Skovgaard
So. So yeah, that would be my winning recipe to, to Yeah. Go all out and and repeat for as many times us as possible. Of course coming back to the chronic loading that you shouldn't do too much too much of a good thing is is probably too much but as long as you have a stable chronic loading of your players when it comes to speed endurance training, then really try to to push the ceiling of it.

00:40:45:01 - 00:41:11:24
Casper Skovgaard
And then again, coming back to what you also touched upon that that when we play a lot of games, it's it's difficult to train to try to identify periods during the season where you don't play as many games and then it's a balance between giving your time to recover but also to push them a lot. So it's this this fine mix and balance, you may call it.

00:41:11:24 - 00:41:36:03
Casper Skovgaard
And then of course, we have to also have an eye out for our our reserves or those not playing a whole lot like how do we stimulate dose and how do we keep them fit so when that they have to play, they are, if not at their peak performance, then very, very close to it. And and that's where again, this, this high intensity training comes into play.

00:41:36:05 - 00:41:57:28
Rikke Grundtvig
And then I would love to close on one last question for you. So go. And that is your coaching of first League European squad. Right? And so you're standing there every day with a new generation of elite players. And do you have any insights on how it is to train that new generation? Are they different from the previous generations?

00:41:57:28 - 00:42:03:21
Rikke Grundtvig
What do you see when you when you're there with them on the pitch.

00:42:03:23 - 00:42:33:25
Casper Skovgaard
Mean It's a it's a good question and and a question that you can probably debate a lot because what is what are the factors in play here and why do we see what we see? I think at least when we look at our tests, the players, they are becoming they are faster both in their acceleration but also top speed compared to to to earlier.

00:42:33:27 - 00:43:13:06
Casper Skovgaard
And I think that also that's so that's also one of the things, the things that he touched upon that the game has has increased in the in intensity. So so the game is played with a harder runs, harder accelerations. There's not really a lot of room for for players that just stand and wait for the ball. It's more or less the whole team that that has to be in shape, be compact, move together in the attacking phase in the defensive face and the counter attacks in between or the counters.

00:43:13:08 - 00:43:29:05
Casper Skovgaard
But if I should make a short answer to that very good question, I would say that the players, they are they are stronger and they are faster and they have more power than what I have observed earlier.

00:43:29:07 - 00:43:51:04
Rikke Grundtvig
Thank you so much for taking us through these principles and giving us an insight into your world. If someone is getting hooked on your game. Coming up, on elite performance in football based on data. There's a link in the chat and there's also a link in the chat if you want to see more webinars for now, stay golden.

00:43:51:07 - 00:43:52:28
Rikke Grundtvig
See you next time.

00:43:53:01 - 00:43:54:05
Casper Skovgaard
So thank you.