Fit, or not, or what?

[artursteppe]

Recently Richie Wellens confirmed what we already knew, ( and Sven knows it now ), that the squad fitness levels are way down on where they should be. Our two best players on Saturday against Hull City, the new boys Davies and Naughton ( who have both played very few full matches in the last 18 months ) looked quite as fit as the rest of the players on the pitch, and a damned site more enthusiastic.

Wellens blames our ex-manager Sousa because he is lacking fitness.

Can anyone tell me if we have any players, who have been with us since the end of last season, who have maybe thought to themselves - I am a professional, who earns a pretty good weekly wage, and to do the job I am being paid for to the best of my ability, I am going to take it upon myself to make sure I am fit enough to do exactly that. At the same time I will be respected by my bosses and the good people who pay their hard earned money to see the commitment and respect I have for them when I perform on the field of play. - Or are they all just a bunch of no-hope lazy bastards who don't really give a shit ?

[Wymsey]

Fryatt? He's been quite unlucky since that jaw injury.

[artursteppe]

Recently Richie Wellens confirmed what we already knew, ( and Sven knows it now ), that the squad fitness levels are way down on where they should be. Our two best players on Saturday against Hull City, the new boys Davies and Naughton ( who have both played very few full matches in the last 18 months ) looked quite as fit as the rest of the players on the pitch, and a damned site more enthusiastic.

Wellens blames our ex-manager Sousa because he is lacking fitness.

Can anyone tell me if we have any players, who have been with us since the end of last season, who have maybe thought to themselves - I am a professional, who earns a pretty good weekly wage, and to do the job I am being paid for to the best of my ability, I am going to take it upon myself to make sure I am fit enough to do exactly that. At the same time I will be respected by my bosses and the good people who pay their hard earned money to see the commitment and respect I have for them when I perform on the field of play. - Or are they all just a bunch of no-hope lazy bastards who don't really give a shit ?

To answer my own question, the only one I can think of, who is by far the fittest player we have had in the squad, is Robbie Nielson. Now we all know his days at the club may be numbered, but respect to the guy for getting himself fit and trying through his professionalism to retain a first team position this season. We would be in a better position now if some of the more talented players had just a little bit of his integrity!

[mancunianfox]

Recently Richie Wellens confirmed what we already knew, ( and Sven knows it now ), that the squad fitness levels are way down on where they should be. Our two best players on Saturday against Hull City, the new boys Davies and Naughton ( who have both played very few full matches in the last 18 months ) looked quite as fit as the rest of the players on the pitch, and a damned site more enthusiastic.

Wellens blames our ex-manager Sousa because he is lacking fitness.

Can anyone tell me if we have any players, who have been with us since the end of last season, who have maybe thought to themselves - I am a professional, who earns a pretty good weekly wage, and to do the job I am being paid for to the best of my ability, I am going to take it upon myself to make sure I am fit enough to do exactly that. At the same time I will be respected by my bosses and the good people who pay their hard earned money to see the commitment and respect I have for them when I perform on the field of play. - Or are they all just a bunch of no-hope lazy bastards who don't really give a shit ?

This has been brought up before. After Sousa left Swansea their captain Gary Monk did an interview in which he was quite critical of Sousa. One of his points was that the Swansea players knew their fitness was down and were trying to do fitness training themselves away from the training ground. Sousa found out, went mental and banned from doing it. I would imagine things were similar under him at Leicester.

To be fair to Sousa this is probably common place at football clubs due to wanting to avoid injuries to players and because of expensive insurance contracts etc. Players would probably run the risk of suspension if their clubs found out. They don't want their multi million pound assets getting injuries away un-neccesarily and like to monitor all aspects of the players training and diet.

[HonradaRaposa]

Recently Richie Wellens confirmed what we already knew, ( and Sven knows it now ), that the squad fitness levels are way down on where they should be. Our two best players on Saturday against Hull City, the new boys Davies and Naughton ( who have both played very few full matches in the last 18 months ) looked quite as fit as the rest of the players on the pitch, and a damned site more enthusiastic.

Wellens blames our ex-manager Sousa because he is lacking fitness.

Can anyone tell me if we have any players, who have been with us since the end of last season, who have maybe thought to themselves - I am a professional, who earns a pretty good weekly wage, and to do the job I am being paid for to the best of my ability, I am going to take it upon myself to make sure I am fit enough to do exactly that. At the same time I will be respected by my bosses and the good people who pay their hard earned money to see the commitment and respect I have for them when I perform on the field of play. - Or are they all just a bunch of no-hope lazy bastards who don't really give a shit ?

That's just Wellens looking for an excuse for another piss poor performance in a City shirt.

[artursteppe]

This has been brought up before. After Sousa left Swansea their captain Gary Monk did an interview in which he was quite critical of Sousa. One of his points was that the Swansea players knew their fitness was down and were trying to do fitness training themselves away from the training ground. Sousa found out, went mental and banned from doing it. I would imagine things were similar under him at Leicester.

To be fair to Sousa this is probably common place at football clubs due to wanting to avoid injuries to players and because of expensive insurance contracts etc. Players would probably run the risk of suspension if their clubs found out. They don't want their multi million pound assets getting injuries away un-neccesarily and like to monitor all aspects of the players training and diet.

Sorry, but that sounds quite bizarre when most clubs ask there players to maintain fitness levels throughout the summer. They don't seem to worry about injuries and insurance cover then.

[The Doctor]

Sorry, but that sounds quite bizarre when most clubs ask there players to maintain fitness levels throughout the summer. They don't seem to worry about injuries and insurance cover then.

sousa was quite a bizzare manager though. Got to trust players that trained under him about his dealing with fitness levels.

[B52]

If Sven has critisized the fitness level of the team it must be really bad. He's usually very diplomatic and don't take cheap shots.

[MrSpaM]

Just been mentioned on the moan in, Richie told RL he couldnt remember a single training session starting on time when Sousa was in charge

[AoWW]

There's a few who are pretty fit.

[Wymsey]

Why isn't the club playing the second string and so on in a reserve league? I don't truthfully know? Its such a daft idea.

[Ross 'LCFC' Turner]

[fleckneymike]

Foxblogger covered this issue today

"Throughout the season there has been much debate about whether City’s pre-season left them lacking in fitness ahead of the Championship campaign. The debate rose again after City controlled the first half against Hull, only to surrender the lead in the second. When framed in the context of the nervous twenty minute spell at home to S****horpe and the complete collapse at Pompey, it’s easy to see why this argument starts to look convincing.

But those who continue to persist with this criticism need to answer the following questions;

Why have Leicester scored only three goals in the first half of matches, but 11 in the second?

Why do City have a positive goal difference in the last 25 minutes of league matches?

How to we explain the second half comebacks against Coventry and Cardiff, or indeed the League Cup win at Leeds? Are these teams even less fit? If so, why are they all ahead of City in the league table?

When asked if fitness was a contributing factor Saturday’s result Sven wisely commented “I don’t know if it is a fitness issue yet, I will look at that.”

I suspect the answer to City’s problems on the pitch will be more substantial than a few more laps around Bradgate Park next summer."

[MrSpaM]

I suspect the answer to City’s problems on the pitch will be more substantial than a few more laps around Bradgate Park next summer."

I'd be very surprised if their more than 6 of the current squad doing them laps next summer, and thats including the loan signings.

[davieG]

Foxblogger covered this issue today

"Throughout the season there has been much debate about whether City's pre-season left them lacking in fitness ahead of the Championship campaign. The debate rose again after City controlled the first half against Hull, only to surrender the lead in the second. When framed in the context of the nervous twenty minute spell at home to S****horpe and the complete collapse at Pompey, it's easy to see why this argument starts to look convincing.

But those who continue to persist with this criticism need to answer the following questions;

Why have Leicester scored only three goals in the first half of matches, but 11 in the second?

Why do City have a positive goal difference in the last 25 minutes of league matches?

How to we explain the second half comebacks against Coventry and Cardiff, or indeed the League Cup win at Leeds? Are these teams even less fit? If so, why are they all ahead of City in the league table?

When asked if fitness was a contributing factor Saturday's result Sven wisely commented "I don't know if it is a fitness issue yet, I will look at that."

I suspect the answer to City's problems on the pitch will be more substantial than a few more laps around Bradgate Park next summer."

On the other hand Wellens's in today's Merc

"The only thing I thought was we didn't work hard enough in training.

"When you are a player who needs to work hard every day to get the best out of you on match day, I found it difficult playing 11-a-side games which are shape orientated. We didn't really get a sweat on in training."

I'm inclined to think a lot of it was down to confidence both in themselves and the manager's approach to the game and the training, perhaps they'd convinced themselves they weren't fit.

[smudgerfox]

I'd be very surprised if their more than 6 of the current squad doing them laps next summer, and thats including the loan signings.

It really is extraordinary that Sousa thought you could get through a Championship season without the squad being at maximum fitness. And it's extraordonary that we should have ousted a half-decent manager to make way for such a soccer idealist. As I've said before Sousa's comment that the players looked "leggy" BEFORE the QPR match is a savage indictment of his ridiculous regime. And it's equally extraordinary that the players don't take responsibility for their own fitness levels. The whole episode merely serves tom illustrate the mad mad world that is football today.

[Foxblogger]

On the other hand Wellens's in today's Merc

I'm inclined to think a lot of it was down to confidence both in themselves and the manager's approach to the game and the training, perhaps they'd convinced themselves they weren't fit.

I think you've hit to nail on the head there.

[Ashley]

The players would have started to have lost fitness when the sports science team left with Pearson. The Sports Science Team were looking into the players weaknesses to improve them and capitalise on there strengths. We didn't have that with Sousa.