Do our players put in the same kind of shift as the teams above us?

[Xaviboy]

We do put shift in but its not as effective as the other top 2 teams are at moment. They play high press from 1st minute to end of the game. This is down to the coach and work on the training ground. Our players are not use to high press due to mourinho and his poxy tactics. Players fitness will be worked on by ole and staff come pre season and with new players I think we will see a difference come start of next season on and off the ball. Hate to say it but both the top 2 teams work hard off the ball and are hard working at the attacking side, movement and off the ball running which we lack big time.

 

[Peeping Tim]

... Ole can't be seen as the Messiah...

He's just a very naughty boy!

Sorry couldn't resist.

You've got a problem similar to Arsenal. Your most gifted/high-output players work a lot less than the others and don't play in the spine of your team, so end up on the periphery struggling to get involved, and some of your key players, forming the spine of your team, are not used to playing in a high-intensity system. Emery has had to deal with Ozil, Ramsey from the former and Xhaka, Elneny, Aubamayang in the latter.

You've got Martial, Pogba in the former, and Matic, Lukaku in the latter.

It looks like Emery is doing a wholesale clearout. He's put Ozil in his place, not given Ramsey the wages he wanted, used Ozil and Aubamayang only in certain matches, and will need another couple of windows to finish the job.

What does Ole do? Can he Motivate the likes of Martial and Pogba to play in an intensive system? Can you afford to get rid/phase out all of Martial, Pogba, Matic, Lukaku? Will you be able to replace them with players of sufficient quality and workrate? How would the fans react if Pogba and Martial were moved on?

Exciting times ahead...

 

[sunama]

We didn't have the fitness under Mourinho. It was something Solskjaer spoke about when he took over and its not something that can be addressed mid season. We won't be able to do anything about it until the summer.

I don't really buy this.
Fitness levels can be raised slowly, through the weeks and you can peak your fitness level once or twice a year.
In fact, I'd say that taking over Jose is the best situation to be in if you are coach who wants high fitness.
Under Jose our players did less running and were therefore well rested. This would be similar to the off-season for a runner/cyclist. When Ole took over, he could slowly increase the volume of work that the team does (thus increasing fitness), without risking burning them out. As the volume is increased, he can then start to reduce volume and increase intensity. All this has to be thought out, though (I'm simplifying this).

The other point to make is that each player needs to sometimes work on his own fitness and have pride in himself. If a player does little fitness work because his employers are not forcing him, he is partly to blame.
When Lukaku and Rooney got fat, the club allowed this and the players implemented this weight gam.

Blaming Jose for everything, after 6 months of Ole in charge is wrong.

Personally, I blame the players for not keeping themselves in peak condition and lacking the motivation to work hard on the pitch.

 

[11101]

I don't really buy this.
Fitness levels can be raised slowly, through the weeks and you can peak your fitness level once or twice a year.
In fact, I'd say that taking over Jose is the best situation to be in if you are coach who wants high fitness.
Under Jose our players did less running and were therefore well rested. This would be similar to the off-season for a runner/cyclist. When Ole took over, he could slowly increase the volume of work that the team does (thus increasing fitness), without risking burning them out. As the volume is increased, he can then start to reduce volume and increase intensity. All this has to be thought out, though (I'm simplifying this).

The other point to make is that each player needs to sometimes work on his own fitness and have pride in himself. If a player does little fitness work because his employers are not forcing him, he is partly to blame.
When Lukaku and Rooney got fat, the club allowed this and the players implemented this weight gam.

Blaming Jose for everything, after 6 months of Ole in charge is wrong.

Personally, I blame the players for not keeping themselves in peak condition and lacking the motivation to work hard on the pitch.

It's true that fitness can be improved mid season but there is no substitute for what happens in pre season. Remember we're talking the tiniest percentages at this level. The base aerobic fitness the players have is dictated by the month or so of endurance work they do when they come back from holiday. After that the focus moves more to sport specific exercises and technical work. Where we are in the season now, they won't be doing much fitness at all. It will all be technical work and recovery between games.

 

[Hoof the ball]

There's also the distinct error that a lot of people make, which is presuming that the effectiveness of a press is directly correlated with the amount of exertion put into individual players sprinting at the opposition with the ball. That simply isn't true. Watch any team that presses effectively. Watch Liverpool, in fact. 75% of the success in their pressing is down to the collective organisation in how and when they press. Proximity and positioning of multiple players in any given area at any given time is the key to making their press work. If you believe that it's simply down to them sprinting more, even collectively, then you're only 25% right. Look at prime Barcelona. Xavi, Iniesta, etc, weren't sprinting aggressively. They just ensured collectively that they were positioned close enough to press at the right time.

I've said it for a while now, but most of it is down to coaching emphasis, practice and match application. Effort levels aside, pressing is an organisation issue, not a running issue.

 

[Buster15]

I don't really buy this.
Fitness levels can be raised slowly, through the weeks and you can peak your fitness level once or twice a year.
In fact, I'd say that taking over Jose is the best situation to be in if you are coach who wants high fitness.
Under Jose our players did less running and were therefore well rested. This would be similar to the off-season for a runner/cyclist. When Ole took over, he could slowly increase the volume of work that the team does (thus increasing fitness), without risking burning them out. As the volume is increased, he can then start to reduce volume and increase intensity. All this has to be thought out, though (I'm simplifying this).

The other point to make is that each player needs to sometimes work on his own fitness and have pride in himself. If a player does little fitness work because his employers are not forcing him, he is partly to blame.
When Lukaku and Rooney got fat, the club allowed this and the players implemented this weight gam.

Blaming Jose for everything, after 6 months of Ole in charge is wrong.

Personally, I blame the players for not keeping themselves in peak condition and lacking the motivation to work hard on the pitch.

A good summary by someone who looks like he understands the whole fitness issue.

While I was never a particularly good footballer I have been a reasonably good club runner and I do understand fitness pretty well from a running perspective.
When applied to young professional sportsmen who benefit from the best sports science, it should really only take a few weeks maximum to increase your fitness from say 90% to 100%.

I have said it many times but average club runners in their late 40s can easily do 10km in 45min and most are certainly not on flat manicured surfaces.
So why should players not cover 15km plus in a match. Most average much less.

I understand running and football are not the same with stop start and change of pace.
However, when I watch a 90 minute game, so much time is spent walking.
It should only take tens of seconds to get their breath back.

 

[Fortitude]

Can't be the only one who watched last night and was envious of the drive and determination on display, completely irrespective of skill and talent?

Players who, if they came here could rightly demand the highest wages, working so hard. Annoying.