https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-hodgson-fire-sterling-074713493--sow.html An article headlining an attack on Roy Hodgson being a dinosaur, but the bit I found interesting was an explanation about why a young explosive player like Sterling needs more recovery time than older players. To do with having a higher % of fast muscle fibres which naturally have a poorer blood supply than slow fibres. I know that the higher % of fast fibres is one of the reasons why black athletes dominate in sprint races. The day of a man with a sponge and bucket is over...recovery and training is now very scientific. Saints players undergo testing including blood testing when they arrive for training. Young players are used to this...it is engrained into their thinking. It is hard for managers and players of the old school to understand all this...we all tend to think what was good enough for us is good enough for the young. However, remember that outfield players rarely went beyond thirty even a few years back, but with proper care many go into their thirties now. However, Paul Scholes points out how hard it is for an international manager to accommodate club managers when they only have a couple of days between matches.
606 on Sunday after the England game was discussing this. Plenty of heated arguments between Danny Mills and the callers.
% of fast muscle fibre eh? And there's me thinking the modern player is basically a big girl's blouse in comparison with his predecessor. Don't recall Mick Channon ever complaining of feeling too tired to play for England. Probably too busy running down the bookies.
I think the modern footballer is more of an athlete than his predecessors. Rickie Lambert (talking recently about his favourite match) said it was a shock when he came to Saints. He was scoring goals and was amazed to be told off by Pardew about his lifestyle...even a player as good as him improved with proper care. Adkins remarked that players tried to hide things from him and he was having none of it...I guess they still want to play, but have now been taught to be more body aware.
I must be missing something here. If today's players are more athletic - ie leaner, fitter, better diet etc - and have access to state of the art medical back up, shouldn't their recovery times be quicker than for the predecessors who lived on beer and pies, and did most of their training at the poker school?
I meant that they look after their bodies the same way as athletes do, including proper recovery. Their standards of fitness are higher and they want to maintain it. The reason they have to be superfit is that everyone else is...in the past, standards were lower so you could afford the odd beer and takeaway. That is what Lambert said, he was fit enough until he came to Saints and was informed higher standards were required. Recently Matty was told he wouldn't be fit enough for present day football and he said...'If I played today I would be fitter because I'd have to be.' The youngsters are brought up in this environment and that is why a player like Sterling is able to report tiredness without embarrassment.
Well, I can see this from Hodgson's point of view, only having the players together for a short period makes the additional rest hard to implement & understand.....but as Roy has thoroughly f**ed me off during his whole England stint, I'm glad the bone head is getting it from all directions. And that sir, is my 2penith.
