PAOLO DI CANIO says he will field the fittest side in Sunderlandâs history next season after getting time to put his players through their paces. Despite taking charge with just seven games of the campaign remaining, Di Canio identified Sunderlandâs conditioning as a key flaw which needed to be addressed. Sunderlandâs midweek day off was cancelled and the players were subjected to double or even three times the workload from the Martin OâNeill regime. That will continue in pre-season, with Di Canio planning double training sessions throughout the six weeks of preparations for the new campaign. And after seeing the benefits from the early days of his reign, Di Canio predicts Sunderlandâs superior fitness will be even more noticeable next term. He told the Football Echo: âMy regret is that I only had seven weeks, but itâs not an issue because we were OK (in the relegation battle). âBut for the future, you will see the fittest Sunderland team that has ever been. That has to be the base for a footballer. âIn the first two weeks, they felt a bit heavy, but then you could see the difference. âImagine the change after one year.â Di Canio uses the examples of the Stadium of Light draws against Norwich and Stoke as evidence of the benefits of his fitness programme. In OâNeillâs penultimate game in charge, Sunderland were unable to break down 10-man Norwich during a desperately lethargic second-half display. But seven weeks later, Sunderland fought back with 10 men to claim a point against the Potters. Di Canio added: âThey (the players) should realise that two months ago in the same situation, what would they have done? âI watched the Norwich game when it was the opposite, with 10 versus 11, and they didnât have one shot on target. The best chance came to (Grant) Holt at the end of the game when he was one versus one with (Simon) Mignolet. âSunderland only had the penalty. Norwich were on top and were the better side. âBut then we played against the most physical and tallest side in the league (Stoke) and we were on top in the second half with better possession â 54 per cent vs 46. âWe were running forward and running back after only four weeks (of Di Canioâs reign).â See todayâs Football Echo for more of our Sunderland season review.
Hope he does not over do it though. that's how Shankly's Liverpool won just about everything in the 1970's.
**** that with mom we knew **** all about what was going on, with Di Canio we know almost everything i like this open information attitude a lot
If Di Canio takes on Dortmunds attacking, fast, fit, athletic philosophy... ****, ill **** myself into a coma. Watching the final, quite entertaining. The EPL can learn a thing or two from the Bundesliga. And that Reus... what a canny player. We should make a move for him
Reus is a fantastic player and the Dortmund team a credit to their manager. Feel flat they lost but Who cannot dislike Bayerns football and the ever so brilliant schweinsteiger. Enjoy Darwin haggis, watch them snakes mind
Bayern change their coaches quite regularly but have a strong board of ex-players running the club. Hoeness, Rumminigge and lesser ones and their president is Franz Beckenbauer, They make the big decisions and the head coach is given his directions from them but still has to make it happen on the pitch. Add their huge fan base within Germany and you can understand how they are where they are.
being extra fit can only benefit the teams performance's, on another topic i like the way pdc lets us know whats going on.
Speaking of snakes, was watching Steve Irwins most deadliest snake docu the other night. Thankfully none really in the NT... spiders on the other hand :/ Woke up to one this morning in the kitchen the size of my palm. Needless to say, he met my jandel pretty quick! Would love SAFC to find youth like Reus, Gotze, Gündoğan, etc. They are out there, why aren't our scouts looking for them! (inb4 we don't have any at the moment )
ADAM Johnson has been boosted by Paolo Di Canio’s assurances he wants to turn Sunderland into an “exciting” attacking side – after admitting Martin O’Neill’s safety-first strategy was a source of serious frustration last year. Johnson (pictured left) was sold on the Black Cats by O’Neill’s promise of first-team football and fewer defensive responsibilities. However, as the season developed, it became clear the former Aston Villa boss had made making Sunderland more solid his priority. It helped the Black Cats to concede fewer goals than any team outside the top seven on their own turf – but also left them as the division’s second lowest scorers. Only QPR hit the net fewer times. If it was difficult to watch for Sunderland fans, it was equally tough for a player of Johnson’s attacking ability and imagination to play in. He has been buoyed by Di Canio’s desire to play more “free-flowing” football and anticipates more of a progressive strategy the safety-first approach O’Neill seemed to employ in most of his matches in charge. Johnson told The Journal: “Hopefully next season we’ll start causing teams more problems, attacking teams higher up the pitch rather than just defending 30 games out of 38 in a season. “It’s been tough for our attacking players especially. “I know we haven’t created as many chances as we wanted to but the gaffer wants us to play more free-flowing and to be more exciting and that’s something to look forward to.” Di Canio (pictured above) is planning a plethora of changes to turn Sunderland into a more focused club next season and there have already been considerable changes in the backroom staff. Robert De Fanti, a Fifa-registered agent who is well-known to Ellis Short through business associates, will take over as director of football from next week in an attempt to make the club smarter and more stream-lined in their recruitment. In a slightly surprising development, youth coach Craig Liddle – who was recruited from Darlington last summer – will also depart the club. Liddle had success with the under-18s last season and was part of the team which had earned Sunderland elite status in their Academy. However, he has not survived a planned restructure of the club’s youth structure. All of this is the background to what Short and Di Canio hope is going to be a much more encouraging campaign than the one just ended, which concluded with Sunderland just a place above the relegation zone. That finish came after talk of challenging the top ten and even mounting a tilt for European qualification – two ambitions which never looked likely as the club failed to generate any kind of momentum. It is little surprise Johnson does not want to be drawn into making predictions – saying the players must prove their ability before they start to set themselves aims for next year. He added: ““After this season you just have get a good start next time and see where it takes us.” Read more: Journal Live http://www.journallive.co.uk/safc/s...es-adam-johnson-61634-33388817/#ixzz2UUV2tt00
