When Ole came in, there was a massive buzz around the club. That transmitted from the fans to the pitch, and you could see the players had that extra bit of running in them.
We were not only beating teams, and im not sure of the stats, but its looked like we were outrunning, or at a minimum, matching the oppositions work rate.
For whatever reason, and I personally feel it was down to a lack of fitness and motivation, we went from matching/outrunning teams, to being outran.
Now, people will say we've not had a great transfer window, and that we haven't got the greatest team. Whilst I agree, we've added something to our squad which to me, is vitally important if you want to compete - hard work.
Don't get me wrong, running around all day isn't always going to win you games, but if you look at the games we lost last season, especially against the so called 'lesser' clubs, we were most likely outran by them.
Former Stoke striker John Walters said "against the top six at Stoke we used to beat them by work-rate and running yourself into the ground".
When you have ability mixed with work rate, you get Liverpool and Man City, who won major trophies last season.
If there's anything I've learned from pre season, its that we have worked incredibly off the ball. Our players seem a lot fitter and are able to sustain the intensity a lot longer than previous seasons, where we used to sit back and invite teams onto us.
People may not see this as a big thing, but we saw the effect hard work had when Ole came in. Due to a lack of fitness, we werent able to sustain it. If we can sustain, then I see no reason why we cant have a successful season, as we proved we can beat the sides in and around us.
We were not only beating teams, and im not sure of the stats, but its looked like we were outrunning, or at a minimum, matching the oppositions work rate.
For whatever reason, and I personally feel it was down to a lack of fitness and motivation, we went from matching/outrunning teams, to being outran.
Now, people will say we've not had a great transfer window, and that we haven't got the greatest team. Whilst I agree, we've added something to our squad which to me, is vitally important if you want to compete - hard work.
Don't get me wrong, running around all day isn't always going to win you games, but if you look at the games we lost last season, especially against the so called 'lesser' clubs, we were most likely outran by them.
Former Stoke striker John Walters said "against the top six at Stoke we used to beat them by work-rate and running yourself into the ground".
When you have ability mixed with work rate, you get Liverpool and Man City, who won major trophies last season.
If there's anything I've learned from pre season, its that we have worked incredibly off the ball. Our players seem a lot fitter and are able to sustain the intensity a lot longer than previous seasons, where we used to sit back and invite teams onto us.
People may not see this as a big thing, but we saw the effect hard work had when Ole came in. Due to a lack of fitness, we werent able to sustain it. If we can sustain, then I see no reason why we cant have a successful season, as we proved we can beat the sides in and around us.