Post by johnnywarren on Feb 13, 2007 22:31:53 GMT 10
Peaking at the right time
How the German Men's National Team got fit for the 2006 World Cup
by Manni Klar, Editor, Success in Soccer
Preparing a team for the World Cup isn't an easy task, especially when you are the host country and your team has been a successful soccer nation in the past. The expectations are very high, and the closer you get to the event, the more the pressure builds.
When you're competing against the best in the world, you don't leave anything to chance; you want to make sure your players are at the top of their game. That's why Jürgen Klinsmann, head coach of
Germany's Men's National Team, surrounded himself with some of the best fitness experts in the business. To improve his players' fitness level, he brought in U.S. fitness expert Mark Verstegen from Athletes’ Performance in Phoenix, Arizona.
Evaluating and tracking performance
In cooperation with the national team's medical, In cooperation with the national team's medical, rehab and coaching staffs, Mark Verstegen and his staff coaches started testing players two years prior to the main event. They observed players during practice and play, and they conducted functional movement screens (FMS) to identify deficiencies in mobility, stability, speed, power, agility, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and upper body strength.
The FMS is a series of seven tests used to identify asymmetries that can eventually lead to either overuse or acute injuries, and which have been shown to correlate with both injury rates and performance. Based on the results of the screens, coaches developed individual corrective exercise plans, in the form of DVDs and written materials, and gave these to the players to take back to their clubs and do on their own.
Performance tests were also administered to evaluate power output, acceleration, absolute speed, multidirectional speed and conditioning. Athletes’ Performance developed individual prescriptions to address deficits in each of these areas as well. FMS scores generally improved over the course of the 18 months leading up the World Cup. Conditioning was emphasized during the immediate buildup to the tournament, as this is where coaches saw the majority of performance- limiting factors.
Interview with Mark Verstegen
SIS: How often were the players tested during your two-year time period?
MV: Over the course of two years we got in at least six testing sessions. In some we did lactate threshold testing, speed testing, agility .Others involved movement screens, rehab elements, and maybe one or two performance tests that were very easy and wouldn’t detract from the players’ performance in the upcoming game.
Then we combined that data and looked at how the team ranked. We looked at injury– reduction strategies and performance testing, and then we started to have a foundation for prescribing homework. Then when we did the performance tests, we knew where their fitness level was—their VO2, their lactate threshold—and where we thought it needed to be in order to play their position in Jürgen Klinsmann’s offense or defense strategy. And then we gave them homework.
Oliver Schmidtlein (fitness coach, Bayern Munich) Craig Friedman and Shad Forsythe (staff coaches, Athletes’ Performance) did a wonderful job putting things together so that each player had a custom plan. We said to players, “Here are the warm-up activities I want you to do; here are the rehab activities I want you to do. If you need to improve speed or power, here are the top drills that you need to do. And then after practice, if you need extra power or extra conditioning, here’s exactly what you need to do, one or two days a week, to make sure your player profile is where it needs to be in order to play your position in Jürgen’s system.”
So that’s what we did with the evaluative material, and that’s also part of how Jürgen ultimately selected the national team.
SIS: So that was done for every player that came into the pool?
MV: Yes, and the problem with the pool was that it wasn’t a very deep pool, but it was a pretty wide pool at first; we tried probably 45, 55 different players over the course of this time.
SIS: And that was also part of how the team was formed?
MV: Absolutely.
SIS: How their profile had improved, over that period?
MV: Yes—or how does it match up: Did they have the ability to play in this system, at this position?
SIS: What kinds of exercises were performed to test the players’ deficiencies?
MV: One thing we used was a variation of Gray Cook’s (physical therapist, Functional Movement Screen, Virginia) functional movement screen to look at how the body moves in dynamic motion: looking for mobility,
looking for stability, and looking for the recruitment patterns of the body. If there were a lot of asymmetries or imbalances between the right and the left or the front and the back, or their rotary stability versus their
linear stability, we could say, ”These players have a higher potential for injury.” So we looked at that and gave correctives.
Then the other part was looking at performance tests. They provided a very clear indicator of where we needed to spend the prescription time: Where would players get the most return on their effort? We had them address one limiting factor, such as agility, and then we moved on to the next factor.
The testing results drove the individuals’ homework, but they also drove the team training, in that the player profiles determined what players did during the first 20 minutes, which groups they went to: Do they need more mobility? More stability? Do they need more of a combination?
SIS: So you divided them up?
MV: Yes, we divided them up, and then we did the same thing for their speed: Do they need to work on linear speed? Multidirectional speed? Absolute speed or acceleration? We also did the same thing toward the end: Do they need more power and strength, or do they need more conditioning?
So we looked at the team this way even in team environments. We had an incredible amount of different profiles that allowed us to train as a team but still address individual needs. It was a good system.
SIS: Based on those results, what kind of homework exercises did the players receive?
MV: Each player received his own custom book and had his specific warm-ups that he needed to do. We believe in not asking a ridiculous amount from players, but saying, realistically, “I need you to do these things in the five minutes before you go to practice.” The most important thing about the books was that they were individualized.
They also included general education on recovery and regeneration, nutrition, the mindset—the things we wanted them to have in this program— but the very first line was that “This is
only a guide; please seek out the help of your qualified team physios, strength coaches, speed coaches and conditioning coaches to help you carry out these plans. If there is a more effective way to address these limiting factors, please feel free to do so. The only way the national team will be successful is if we are all in this together.” So we were really looking for the players’ input there. Now, whether they got a lot of support there or whether they got headaches—only the players know the answer to that.
SIS: Yes, because there was some tension.
MV: A lot of tension—which I expected. For sure I expected that. The hard part about national- team players is that they are “owned” by these clubs, if you will. But from our perspective, each player is his own professional. The team has a contract with that player to provide a certain level of services, and that player has a responsibility to make sure that he shows up and delivers a quality product.
SIS: And to take care of himself.
MV: We told the athletes, “If you paid a mechanic to work on your car, and the mechanic did not deliver on what you had already paid him for, would you have every right to be angry? Yes! You’d take the car back, or
you’d take it to someone else. This is no different. They are contracting you as a service; you need to make sure you are responsible, that you’re a grown man and you deliver the best product you can. This is your responsibility.”
SIS: During your training camp in May, which was one month prior to the World Cup, what kind of specific fitness tests and exercises did your staff perform so the players would peak at the right time?
MV: The last major testing we did was about six weeks prior to camp before our last game. Because camp is not the time to test and to start the training; camp is the time to start expressing the training with the technical and the tactical work.
So by that time I was focused more on all the building blocks we’d worked on over the first 14 months; now I was really trying to put those into speed endurance, power endurance, and so on. When the players reported to camp, it was time to get the body recovered, but also to play a lot of games and make sure we addressed those same individual limiting factors as a team.
We also had five players who did not play the season, and that’s where we had our work cut out for us. Jürgen knew their potential, and he very much believed in the quality of work we could all do if the physios would work hard in getting these players up to speed. So that was part of our training camp in Sardinia,
and ultimately we took that to Geneva.
SIS: So you got them healthy.
MV: Healthy and fit. Though at the same time, there wasn’t a whole lot more we could do. If they hadn’t hit the numbers they needed to hit—
SIS: It was too late.
MV: It was almost too late. But either way it was not, at that point, going to alter our prescription. We said, “We need to have this exact prescription for the team that we have now, for people to be able to play this style of play, and we will go through this and adjust to them as we go through.”
It was almost like working backwards: We knew where they needed to be on the very first match, and then we had to work backwards from there.
SIS: Of the work you did to counteract players’ weaknesses and deficiencies, how much was preventive
and how much was meant to improve performance?
MV: Our strategy in the first month was preventive. We said, “Let’s decrease their potential for injury; let’s keep them healthier and fresher so they can have a higher style of play as they go through their teams, and the better quality of play they have, the more fit they will get.” Then, from those core fundamentals, we
started to build performance training. Each time we came in we added an additional unit.
First it was injury screening and injury reduction strategy, then functional movement screening. Then we put in the movement preparation package, the pillar strength package, the stability package—essentially all the
prehab elements—and then nutritional education and regeneration education. After maybe the fourth visit we started to improve the speed, focusing on the fundamental speed elements. After we’d done that for one
or two camps, we said, “Now we need to put more horsepower behind the speed,” so we introduced more power training. And then after that—specifically in the last six weeks—we said to the players: “All right, now
that we’ve done all these different things, I need you to be able to use this at a high level for the duration of a match. So please try to apply it during the Bundesliga games, and you’re also going to have to do some extra fitness so that you come in strong off the season.”
SIS: Did they have to do homework every day?
MV: Most guys only had a few minutes each day, if it was daily; if not, it was maybe a couple times a week.
SIS: Stuff they could actually do at home?
MV: Or after practice, or before practice: things that wouldn’t affect how they were doing at practice or in the games, but that were necessary to complement the system that they were in.
Part of what we wanted to do was not just look at it as a workout, but as a mindset change, the responsibility to implement the whole system every day. So even if they just spent a few minutes doing their pillar strength, this process of warming up properly, activating things—if it takes them five or eight minutes, that’s a very powerful five or eight minutes because it allows them to get more out of their practice. And after practice they would do some recovery and regeneration.
It’s the whole package, the whole strategy: Their nutrition, what they did when they went home—this is just as important as getting that one or two workouts per week. It had to permeate everything that they did.
SIS: Supposedly the homework assigned to individual players was not compatible with the day to-day work of the clubs. Why not?
MV: For a lot of the players it was compatible. We tried to provide the information; we said, “Please share this with your coaches, your therapists; see what they can do to help. If they have any questions, please feel free to call.” But at the end of the season, you know, the (club) mindset is, “We’re just going to recover; there’s no sense in training more because our season ends in three weeks, and why would I do more?” Whereas our season was going to start in three or four weeks. So if the players weren’t doing the homework at the clubs, they had to take responsibility to implement it themselves.
SIS: What else do you think stands out about your training program?
MV: I think the biggest thing we did was saying “This team has to have an identity.” One of the questions we asked was, “What did the teams in 1954 and 1974 have in common?” And everybody said, “They won the World Cup.” But we said, “No. They were one team. There was no star. There was no one person more important than the others; it was a great team effort. And yes, they did win the cup. But this is what we have to be: one team. We all have to play our roles.”
I think that was a really important thing, and we kept going back to it all the time: “This is a team, and you need to fulfill your role on the team for us to be successful.” And it was really neat to see that catch on.
SIS: And everybody bought into that.
MV: Yes. And what was equally powerful was Jürgen’s leadership skills and the people that he assembled on his support staff, which was a big staff. People said fitness was one of the main reasons we did so well, but I would disagree. It’s a part, and it’s necessary. But we also couldn’t have done it if Wolfgang, our bus driver, hadn’t gotten us to the stadium, or if our chef hadn’t prepared our food. Everybody had a role; everyone’s role was equally important to our success, and that’s why I think we all worked so hard together.
I think Jürgen embodied everything that you saw on the field. He stayed so strong and made hard decisions—not popular decisions, but the necessary decisions to stay very consistent with our philosophy and our ultimate goal. Even under the biggest pressure in the world, we stayed very true to our goals and
our objectives. It was really special that way.
SIS: In several interviews you could read, that Juergen said, “We are right where we want to be at
this point in time.” He referred to that very often.
MV: Yes, because we were working from a good game plan. All too often, people change their minds based on one result, or based on somebody’s comments in the press, and what I love about Jürgen is that he was very consistent and very strong. He was very courageous in saying, “No, we are right where we need to be, and this is our philosophy.
This is a system.” You have to believe in the system, so we educated the players: “Is everybody here committed to this? Because at the end of the day, the coaches aren’t going to hit the field; this is you. If you give me your commitment, then we, the coaching staff, will provide you the most efficient system, customized to your individual needs, and the best technology, and if you follow this plan, you will achieve your goals. But you’ll only achieve the goals if you take the responsibility to work with this system. So I’ll bring my ‘A’ game, and you bring your ‘A’ game, and if you deviate from this, I will bring you back.”
So it was very much about the players wanting to play the style of play that Jürgen and our team brought to them, and then making sure that the “car” was tuned up to be able to go out and have success.
SIS: The impressive thing is that you and Jürgen were able to convince the team to believe in this whole thing.
MV: Sure. And that was hard, really. Because at first they said, “Why do we need Americans, and why do we need to do this?” And that’s what I would expect. But our number one focus was the team: We were there to support Jürgen, and to prepare players to fit into his system. And in order to do that, we needed to be able to tell athletes, “Here’s what we’re doing, here’s why we’re doing it, and here’s how it will make you a better player and help improve your performance on the pitch. We will have a reason for absolutely
everything we do: There will be a purpose, and there will be a prescription tailored to your needs. We won’t have you do work just to do work. Everything we do will be very precise and will help you become a better
player by reducing your injury potential or improving your performance.” And I think that’s the other part: To buy into the system, you also need to see results. And the players immediately felt the difference.
Right away after warm-up, they said, “Wow, I’ve never felt this good.” But at the same time we asked them to do many things they’d never seen before, things the press would make fun of. It was challenging.
These were some of the best players in the world, and the system targeted their weaknesses and asked them to address those weaknesses. That’s not fun for elite players; it’s not fun for anyone in the game of life. We don’t like to face our weaknesses head-on. You don’t want to struggle to learn how to do these things when you can do everything else. But in time, as they felt the results, they were willing to keep going through it, because it works
.
SIS: The way the team came together was phenomenal. It was wonderful to watch.
MV: Again, it’s more than just technical, it’s more than just fitness—it’s the whole culture of what we were trying to accomplish.
SIS: And a little luck.
MV: Oh, absolutely!
SIS: There are so many things that have to fall into place.
MV: Well, that was one of the questions I asked in Geneva: Will fitness win you the World Cup? Absolutely not! I can go get a lot of really fit players, and it’s not going to help Fitness can cost you the World Cup, but it’s not going to win you the World Cup.
See, fitness is one thing that you can control very precisely. So once our team hits the field, I’ll make sure their potential to go out there and play at their best is as high as it can possibly be. But after that, there’s still the huge challenge of actually playing the game and getting the right balances, and all the hard work that goes into it: That’s the game. All the other stuff should be less revolutionary, as everybody’s calling our work, and more evolutionary.
Thank you very much for the interview.
How the German Men's National Team got fit for the 2006 World Cup
by Manni Klar, Editor, Success in Soccer
Preparing a team for the World Cup isn't an easy task, especially when you are the host country and your team has been a successful soccer nation in the past. The expectations are very high, and the closer you get to the event, the more the pressure builds.
When you're competing against the best in the world, you don't leave anything to chance; you want to make sure your players are at the top of their game. That's why Jürgen Klinsmann, head coach of
Germany's Men's National Team, surrounded himself with some of the best fitness experts in the business. To improve his players' fitness level, he brought in U.S. fitness expert Mark Verstegen from Athletes’ Performance in Phoenix, Arizona.
Evaluating and tracking performance
In cooperation with the national team's medical, In cooperation with the national team's medical, rehab and coaching staffs, Mark Verstegen and his staff coaches started testing players two years prior to the main event. They observed players during practice and play, and they conducted functional movement screens (FMS) to identify deficiencies in mobility, stability, speed, power, agility, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and upper body strength.
The FMS is a series of seven tests used to identify asymmetries that can eventually lead to either overuse or acute injuries, and which have been shown to correlate with both injury rates and performance. Based on the results of the screens, coaches developed individual corrective exercise plans, in the form of DVDs and written materials, and gave these to the players to take back to their clubs and do on their own.
Performance tests were also administered to evaluate power output, acceleration, absolute speed, multidirectional speed and conditioning. Athletes’ Performance developed individual prescriptions to address deficits in each of these areas as well. FMS scores generally improved over the course of the 18 months leading up the World Cup. Conditioning was emphasized during the immediate buildup to the tournament, as this is where coaches saw the majority of performance- limiting factors.
Interview with Mark Verstegen
SIS: How often were the players tested during your two-year time period?
MV: Over the course of two years we got in at least six testing sessions. In some we did lactate threshold testing, speed testing, agility .Others involved movement screens, rehab elements, and maybe one or two performance tests that were very easy and wouldn’t detract from the players’ performance in the upcoming game.
Then we combined that data and looked at how the team ranked. We looked at injury– reduction strategies and performance testing, and then we started to have a foundation for prescribing homework. Then when we did the performance tests, we knew where their fitness level was—their VO2, their lactate threshold—and where we thought it needed to be in order to play their position in Jürgen Klinsmann’s offense or defense strategy. And then we gave them homework.
Oliver Schmidtlein (fitness coach, Bayern Munich) Craig Friedman and Shad Forsythe (staff coaches, Athletes’ Performance) did a wonderful job putting things together so that each player had a custom plan. We said to players, “Here are the warm-up activities I want you to do; here are the rehab activities I want you to do. If you need to improve speed or power, here are the top drills that you need to do. And then after practice, if you need extra power or extra conditioning, here’s exactly what you need to do, one or two days a week, to make sure your player profile is where it needs to be in order to play your position in Jürgen’s system.”
So that’s what we did with the evaluative material, and that’s also part of how Jürgen ultimately selected the national team.
SIS: So that was done for every player that came into the pool?
MV: Yes, and the problem with the pool was that it wasn’t a very deep pool, but it was a pretty wide pool at first; we tried probably 45, 55 different players over the course of this time.
SIS: And that was also part of how the team was formed?
MV: Absolutely.
SIS: How their profile had improved, over that period?
MV: Yes—or how does it match up: Did they have the ability to play in this system, at this position?
SIS: What kinds of exercises were performed to test the players’ deficiencies?
MV: One thing we used was a variation of Gray Cook’s (physical therapist, Functional Movement Screen, Virginia) functional movement screen to look at how the body moves in dynamic motion: looking for mobility,
looking for stability, and looking for the recruitment patterns of the body. If there were a lot of asymmetries or imbalances between the right and the left or the front and the back, or their rotary stability versus their
linear stability, we could say, ”These players have a higher potential for injury.” So we looked at that and gave correctives.
Then the other part was looking at performance tests. They provided a very clear indicator of where we needed to spend the prescription time: Where would players get the most return on their effort? We had them address one limiting factor, such as agility, and then we moved on to the next factor.
The testing results drove the individuals’ homework, but they also drove the team training, in that the player profiles determined what players did during the first 20 minutes, which groups they went to: Do they need more mobility? More stability? Do they need more of a combination?
SIS: So you divided them up?
MV: Yes, we divided them up, and then we did the same thing for their speed: Do they need to work on linear speed? Multidirectional speed? Absolute speed or acceleration? We also did the same thing toward the end: Do they need more power and strength, or do they need more conditioning?
So we looked at the team this way even in team environments. We had an incredible amount of different profiles that allowed us to train as a team but still address individual needs. It was a good system.
SIS: Based on those results, what kind of homework exercises did the players receive?
MV: Each player received his own custom book and had his specific warm-ups that he needed to do. We believe in not asking a ridiculous amount from players, but saying, realistically, “I need you to do these things in the five minutes before you go to practice.” The most important thing about the books was that they were individualized.
They also included general education on recovery and regeneration, nutrition, the mindset—the things we wanted them to have in this program— but the very first line was that “This is
only a guide; please seek out the help of your qualified team physios, strength coaches, speed coaches and conditioning coaches to help you carry out these plans. If there is a more effective way to address these limiting factors, please feel free to do so. The only way the national team will be successful is if we are all in this together.” So we were really looking for the players’ input there. Now, whether they got a lot of support there or whether they got headaches—only the players know the answer to that.
SIS: Yes, because there was some tension.
MV: A lot of tension—which I expected. For sure I expected that. The hard part about national- team players is that they are “owned” by these clubs, if you will. But from our perspective, each player is his own professional. The team has a contract with that player to provide a certain level of services, and that player has a responsibility to make sure that he shows up and delivers a quality product.
SIS: And to take care of himself.
MV: We told the athletes, “If you paid a mechanic to work on your car, and the mechanic did not deliver on what you had already paid him for, would you have every right to be angry? Yes! You’d take the car back, or
you’d take it to someone else. This is no different. They are contracting you as a service; you need to make sure you are responsible, that you’re a grown man and you deliver the best product you can. This is your responsibility.”
SIS: During your training camp in May, which was one month prior to the World Cup, what kind of specific fitness tests and exercises did your staff perform so the players would peak at the right time?
MV: The last major testing we did was about six weeks prior to camp before our last game. Because camp is not the time to test and to start the training; camp is the time to start expressing the training with the technical and the tactical work.
So by that time I was focused more on all the building blocks we’d worked on over the first 14 months; now I was really trying to put those into speed endurance, power endurance, and so on. When the players reported to camp, it was time to get the body recovered, but also to play a lot of games and make sure we addressed those same individual limiting factors as a team.
We also had five players who did not play the season, and that’s where we had our work cut out for us. Jürgen knew their potential, and he very much believed in the quality of work we could all do if the physios would work hard in getting these players up to speed. So that was part of our training camp in Sardinia,
and ultimately we took that to Geneva.
SIS: So you got them healthy.
MV: Healthy and fit. Though at the same time, there wasn’t a whole lot more we could do. If they hadn’t hit the numbers they needed to hit—
SIS: It was too late.
MV: It was almost too late. But either way it was not, at that point, going to alter our prescription. We said, “We need to have this exact prescription for the team that we have now, for people to be able to play this style of play, and we will go through this and adjust to them as we go through.”
It was almost like working backwards: We knew where they needed to be on the very first match, and then we had to work backwards from there.
SIS: Of the work you did to counteract players’ weaknesses and deficiencies, how much was preventive
and how much was meant to improve performance?
MV: Our strategy in the first month was preventive. We said, “Let’s decrease their potential for injury; let’s keep them healthier and fresher so they can have a higher style of play as they go through their teams, and the better quality of play they have, the more fit they will get.” Then, from those core fundamentals, we
started to build performance training. Each time we came in we added an additional unit.
First it was injury screening and injury reduction strategy, then functional movement screening. Then we put in the movement preparation package, the pillar strength package, the stability package—essentially all the
prehab elements—and then nutritional education and regeneration education. After maybe the fourth visit we started to improve the speed, focusing on the fundamental speed elements. After we’d done that for one
or two camps, we said, “Now we need to put more horsepower behind the speed,” so we introduced more power training. And then after that—specifically in the last six weeks—we said to the players: “All right, now
that we’ve done all these different things, I need you to be able to use this at a high level for the duration of a match. So please try to apply it during the Bundesliga games, and you’re also going to have to do some extra fitness so that you come in strong off the season.”
SIS: Did they have to do homework every day?
MV: Most guys only had a few minutes each day, if it was daily; if not, it was maybe a couple times a week.
SIS: Stuff they could actually do at home?
MV: Or after practice, or before practice: things that wouldn’t affect how they were doing at practice or in the games, but that were necessary to complement the system that they were in.
Part of what we wanted to do was not just look at it as a workout, but as a mindset change, the responsibility to implement the whole system every day. So even if they just spent a few minutes doing their pillar strength, this process of warming up properly, activating things—if it takes them five or eight minutes, that’s a very powerful five or eight minutes because it allows them to get more out of their practice. And after practice they would do some recovery and regeneration.
It’s the whole package, the whole strategy: Their nutrition, what they did when they went home—this is just as important as getting that one or two workouts per week. It had to permeate everything that they did.
SIS: Supposedly the homework assigned to individual players was not compatible with the day to-day work of the clubs. Why not?
MV: For a lot of the players it was compatible. We tried to provide the information; we said, “Please share this with your coaches, your therapists; see what they can do to help. If they have any questions, please feel free to call.” But at the end of the season, you know, the (club) mindset is, “We’re just going to recover; there’s no sense in training more because our season ends in three weeks, and why would I do more?” Whereas our season was going to start in three or four weeks. So if the players weren’t doing the homework at the clubs, they had to take responsibility to implement it themselves.
SIS: What else do you think stands out about your training program?
MV: I think the biggest thing we did was saying “This team has to have an identity.” One of the questions we asked was, “What did the teams in 1954 and 1974 have in common?” And everybody said, “They won the World Cup.” But we said, “No. They were one team. There was no star. There was no one person more important than the others; it was a great team effort. And yes, they did win the cup. But this is what we have to be: one team. We all have to play our roles.”
I think that was a really important thing, and we kept going back to it all the time: “This is a team, and you need to fulfill your role on the team for us to be successful.” And it was really neat to see that catch on.
SIS: And everybody bought into that.
MV: Yes. And what was equally powerful was Jürgen’s leadership skills and the people that he assembled on his support staff, which was a big staff. People said fitness was one of the main reasons we did so well, but I would disagree. It’s a part, and it’s necessary. But we also couldn’t have done it if Wolfgang, our bus driver, hadn’t gotten us to the stadium, or if our chef hadn’t prepared our food. Everybody had a role; everyone’s role was equally important to our success, and that’s why I think we all worked so hard together.
I think Jürgen embodied everything that you saw on the field. He stayed so strong and made hard decisions—not popular decisions, but the necessary decisions to stay very consistent with our philosophy and our ultimate goal. Even under the biggest pressure in the world, we stayed very true to our goals and
our objectives. It was really special that way.
SIS: In several interviews you could read, that Juergen said, “We are right where we want to be at
this point in time.” He referred to that very often.
MV: Yes, because we were working from a good game plan. All too often, people change their minds based on one result, or based on somebody’s comments in the press, and what I love about Jürgen is that he was very consistent and very strong. He was very courageous in saying, “No, we are right where we need to be, and this is our philosophy.
This is a system.” You have to believe in the system, so we educated the players: “Is everybody here committed to this? Because at the end of the day, the coaches aren’t going to hit the field; this is you. If you give me your commitment, then we, the coaching staff, will provide you the most efficient system, customized to your individual needs, and the best technology, and if you follow this plan, you will achieve your goals. But you’ll only achieve the goals if you take the responsibility to work with this system. So I’ll bring my ‘A’ game, and you bring your ‘A’ game, and if you deviate from this, I will bring you back.”
So it was very much about the players wanting to play the style of play that Jürgen and our team brought to them, and then making sure that the “car” was tuned up to be able to go out and have success.
SIS: The impressive thing is that you and Jürgen were able to convince the team to believe in this whole thing.
MV: Sure. And that was hard, really. Because at first they said, “Why do we need Americans, and why do we need to do this?” And that’s what I would expect. But our number one focus was the team: We were there to support Jürgen, and to prepare players to fit into his system. And in order to do that, we needed to be able to tell athletes, “Here’s what we’re doing, here’s why we’re doing it, and here’s how it will make you a better player and help improve your performance on the pitch. We will have a reason for absolutely
everything we do: There will be a purpose, and there will be a prescription tailored to your needs. We won’t have you do work just to do work. Everything we do will be very precise and will help you become a better
player by reducing your injury potential or improving your performance.” And I think that’s the other part: To buy into the system, you also need to see results. And the players immediately felt the difference.
Right away after warm-up, they said, “Wow, I’ve never felt this good.” But at the same time we asked them to do many things they’d never seen before, things the press would make fun of. It was challenging.
These were some of the best players in the world, and the system targeted their weaknesses and asked them to address those weaknesses. That’s not fun for elite players; it’s not fun for anyone in the game of life. We don’t like to face our weaknesses head-on. You don’t want to struggle to learn how to do these things when you can do everything else. But in time, as they felt the results, they were willing to keep going through it, because it works
.
SIS: The way the team came together was phenomenal. It was wonderful to watch.
MV: Again, it’s more than just technical, it’s more than just fitness—it’s the whole culture of what we were trying to accomplish.
SIS: And a little luck.
MV: Oh, absolutely!
SIS: There are so many things that have to fall into place.
MV: Well, that was one of the questions I asked in Geneva: Will fitness win you the World Cup? Absolutely not! I can go get a lot of really fit players, and it’s not going to help Fitness can cost you the World Cup, but it’s not going to win you the World Cup.
See, fitness is one thing that you can control very precisely. So once our team hits the field, I’ll make sure their potential to go out there and play at their best is as high as it can possibly be. But after that, there’s still the huge challenge of actually playing the game and getting the right balances, and all the hard work that goes into it: That’s the game. All the other stuff should be less revolutionary, as everybody’s calling our work, and more evolutionary.
Thank you very much for the interview.