- Joined
- May 10, 2009
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- 36,740
Well no one is saying we should be running at high intensity for full 90 mins. It's about management, doesn't mean you have pathetic fitness that you end up last in everything. It's obvious to anyone who watched Manutd how much we lacked in fitness.No, it's simple logic. As a top team, you play more games than most of the teams you play against. So you either find ways to win, without overpowering every opponent you meet, or you'll find yourself falling of a cliff at the end of the season, because your players are completely out of breath by then. That's what Klopp had to adapt to at Liverpool. You can't outrun three opponents a week for the whole season. That's why they now have the most possession behind City. They still do a at lot of intense running, but especially against smaller teams, they have learned to take the foot off the gas pedal and save some energy.
The prem is a marathon, not a sprint. If you don't have the squad depth to outrun everyone every week, which you don't, you need to play smart, not wild.
City can do it. But they have incredible depth throughout.
Liverpool were 5th in distance covered this season, Tottenham 8th, Chelsea 10th, City 12th. Manutd 20th
Sprints - Liverpool 1st, City 5th, Spurs 8th. ManUtd 14th.
You don't have to outrun everytime, you have to match them for intensity and work rate when needed. Barca was also one of the hardest working team when Pep was the manager, they didn't have "we are Barca, we don't run" attitude.