We weren’t seen as an easy roll over under Poch at all, so to say over a decade is disingenuous in my eyes.
2km is not much at all, they shouldn't be worn out from it. I'm not saying it's right to do it on a matchday but it's only about a 15 mins jog. I don't think we looked shattered in the first half, we always looked like we were conserving energy. It felt like just us being really patient in the first half and then looking to finish strong 2nd. There's definitely an issue with mentality if they're suffering from a pre match jog to a point it impacts their game. Besides don't we have one of the best records for ground covered? I don't think fitness was a big issue honestly. I do agree he should rotate more though and use the squad but he clearly didn't trust enough players. That's on him though, once the window closes you have your squad and have to use it.
2km doesn’t sound much in isolation, but it’s an extra 20% of their match day distance if they run 10km during the game.
It's not about being seen as a rollover, more about having a mediocrity complex here, if we don't win anything it's ok, and if we make top 4 that's a win. I understand that there are other teams that have, and have spent more money, but if the managers target at the start of the season is only to make top 4 then don't be surprised if that's all we ever achieve.
It's 20% extra of what players already run on the pitch. And I think it is deeply, deeply implausible that when Antonio Conte orders our players to run, what he actually means is a very light jog. What would the point in that even be? So actually, it's probably >20% of the total hard running they'd be expected to do on the pitch.
If I could winner this more than once I would, it’s a brilliant point and a different way to look at the same problem. Lloris, Romero, Lenglet, Perisic, Bentancur, Lucas and Kulu have all won major honours just off the top of my head. So you could just as well ask why managers have failed with winners as players as you can ask why players have failed with winners as managers.
I would put a lot of money that that is exactly what Arteta and Arsenal were aiming for this season and look at them now.
How much has it really come down to fitness though? I wouldn't put our failings down to that this season. Is that the reason for players not picking up runners? Is that the reason Son can't control the ball or shoot? Is it why Lloris can't save at his near post? I don't know if that's fatigue or something else. Tactics have been the biggest contribution to our failings and the inability to get the best out of players or improve younger players. Maybe they are tired but the stats would show otherwise.
You may be right.
I agree the tactics are the key reason and there’s also no excuse for stubbornly ignoring the younger players - that was ably demonstrated when we eventually saw Sarr.
Is it ok we if don't win anything? Two of the biggest managerial names out there have been sacked, as had Poch before them. We don't talk about Nuno.
The 10k they cover in a match is vastly different, so its not an extra 20% of that. They would be mostly sprinting the total 10k during a match.
Well you've applied the intensity bit yourself based on no evidence, unless I'm missing something. I haven't seen anything to suggest it was just before the match or that it was some kind of HIIT session.
Yet the obvious comparison to make here is with Poch. What did we have in common then with Arsenal now? A young team all hungry for success that aren't interested in just doing the job they are paid to do, not a team full of senior pro's that have all been comfortable in their surroundings for a long time. Some of these players we have now have been turning up to a state of the art training facility with every mod con you can dream of for years now and it's no surprise to me they moan and whine about training regimes.
It can, I just don't know if that's the case. It just feels like it's letting the players off easy again. There's always something with every manager. Poch became too distant. Jose became too repetitive. Nuno didn't have clear enough instructions. Conte run them into the ground. There has to come a point where you stop and think "is it really the manager now?". There's a real mental block at the club and one thing I agree with Conte is about them not wanting to suffer or play with pressure. It does feel like they want an old school manager like a Redknapp with no pressure put on them. I don't know if we will ever win things that way though. The top players thrive on pressure.
It's hardly a reach to say that when Conte, one of the most demanding managers in football, tells athletes to run, he does not mean a 7.5 minute per KM pace that any couch potato could do.
Well like I say that's just your guess based on his characteristics as a manager. Yes he's intense but that doesn't mean he doesn't know when to be intense and when not. You don't have the success he has not knowing that. It's not like he doesn't give them rest days after games for example. I doubt every session he does is 100%. His European record has nothing to do with it, and even so he went the distance in the Europa. I think its more to do with the quality of his teams and his brand of football. I doubt they fail in the CL because of fitness.
I want us to recruit younger players and develop them, it's one of my main issues with Conte.
You routinely say very sensible things. Just thought I'd say that.
It's not much. Even as a casual 5k runner, you should be warming up with this distance before the main event.
