It's players like Peter Crouch that need to do some weights, or maybe Flanagan, as he seems a bit skinny, though he's only young.
Ya, I agree. Flanagan needs to do lighter weights first and foremost. If he wants to still be spritely he needs to only look at what happened to Insua as he basically became too big to keep up with the pacy wingers. I am very specific when it comes to weights and the game. I think it all depends on what type of player you are or want to become should be the type of weights you want to do. Strong ball winning CB , have it get huge, as long as their is a quicker CB next to you. Andy Carroll go ahead mate, become huge, he doesn;t really have the agility or speed but hold up man he is most useful! Same goes with DM, they say you need to be a Viera or collosus in there, but if I remember right, the greatest DM of our generation was Makele and he wasn't exactly the biggest guy.
Just out of interest BBF, what did you think of the Lucas penalty against Arsenal? Cos he clearly looked for that one too. When Eboue nudged him in the back, Lucas pulled his left foot back making him fall, when the instinctive response would have been to throw it out forwards to steady himself. Did you think that one was a dive as well?
You can't just say 'bulking up' takes your speed away. How many skinny sprinters do you see? Not many; they're a lot more bulky than your average footballer. Bench pressing and bicep curls alone aren't going to make you faster though. Power work such as olympic lifts (clean/jerk, snatch) improve your explosiveness and thus your speed. So, it depends how you go about the bulking up. Good leg and power work is proven to increase your speed. However, some players lose it because they're simply designed to be a lighter build. More of a glider than a powerhouse.
You can't compare sprinters to football players. They run 40, 100, a lap maybe two tops. They train their bodies for that. The bicep thing was more of a joke about what a lot of people think lifting is " big arms, chest,etc". The olympic lifts will help, but in moderation, you can;t gain too much weight as that is weight you will have to lug around for 90 minutes. 100% agree with the second paragraph though. Also got to watch doing too much olympic lifts and lower body lifts as it can have a huge affect on your muscles, tendons, joints, etc ( players continually get "tweaks" body is having trouble adapting)
Good point, but, sprinters literally run in a straight line for a matter of seconds, they don't have to change direction like footballers do...
Absolutely agree, but you've gotta do it the right way. I knew a rugby player at uni who was about 5' 8" tall, 5' 10" wide and could run the 100 metres in about 12 seconds. He bulked up by doing loads of dynamic resistance exercises, teaching his muscles to get strong whilst still moving quickly and getting loads of explosive power. There's no reason footballers can't do the same if they train right - I copied some of his exercises and got bigger and faster at the same time, although not to the same extent as him!
Full-backs are basically defensive wingers.John Flanagan and Martin Kelly(If he is to remain a full-back for the foreseeable future) will both have to develop their upper body strength.Kelly will have to develop his leg muscles to ensure that he has less problems with his hamstrings.There must be conditioning work he can do to have less trouble. As for striker strengthening,I reckon the only thing Hernandez can do is improve his upper body strength.If he doesn't he'll get clattered by defenders who have worked him out.
Wouldn't you lose your agility/turning speed by doing that? I think its more important to footballers to keep their speed on the turn and over 5 yards rather than their overall speed over 50.
I don't quite understand this... Hernandez' game rarely involves him going shoulder-to-shoulder with defenders... To be honest he rarely even attempts to beat a man, it's all about his movement.. Of his goals, maybe 1/4 involved any use of body strength... I don't see how he'll get clattered to be honest.. As long as the service is up to scratch from the United players, his movement will be enough.
The only problem with gaining bulk is the sheer weight gained. You have to make sure you eat right and improve your aerobic conditioning at the same time as "bulking up." Sprinting is no trouble whatsoever, after all when do you ever see a skinny sprinter? Never. The only problem comes when endurance running, and it's all about getting the balance. If you can get the balance to reach 90 minutes maximum, then you'll have optimised bulk to speed to fatigue ratio. Although the main problem with Wingers in particular gaining weight and "bulking up," is that they provide a larger target and usually become less sprightly. If Messi were to gain a few pounds he wouldn't pull off half the things he does because he keeps close to the ground to maximise his balance. If you watch Suarez closely too, when he's on a run it looks as if he's in a constant state of falling, but he's just keeping low to balance himself. As soon as you gain bulk you've lost this and have to rely on power instead of skill. It works for some, but not for others.
That's the point. "Worked him out," implying that a good manager will tell his defenders to stay in front of Hernandez at all times, don't let him get behind you. Hernandez would be lost from the game if the defender was always in front of him, which is why potentially he'd have to improve his upper body strength. Although this is only an issue if the manager has done his homework beforehand.
A manager telling his defender to do it is one thing, the defender actually keeping that concentration up for 90 minutes is another... It's much easier said then done... The problem is that as the game goes on United's threats from other areas (Rooney, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Evra) will also drag players out of position... A CB neglecting other zones of the pitch in order purely to contain Hernandez will gives others the room to exploit.. Out of interest, have you played local league football?
Not if you bulk up your "fast twitch" muscle fibres. These are the ones that generate explosive power and accelerate you quickly out of the blocks. Basically you make your muscles bigger with the right type of muscles, and then you generate a higher power to weight ratio over short distances, thus quicker acceleration. Rugby players are some of the best examples - Jonah Lomu, Bryan Habana and Jason Robinson are big guys but get huge acceleration over very short distances and can change direction very quickly. That's the theory. But then you could say the same thing about Torres, Lineker, Owen, Inzaghi, Crespo and any other number of relatively one dimensional out and out strikers. The problem is that as soon as the defender switches off, the striker gets away from them and that can be all they need to score. In theory a defender can handle any striker by making the right decision to get tight / drop off / stay in front of them / hassle them when receiving possession. But with an out and out poacher the defender can be on top all game, but lose concentration for one second and that's a goal.
Four. If he doesn't use body strength to get past defenders whats he supposed to do,attempt the impossible...run through them. Look at Ryan Giggs,He's naturally wirey and when he was a left winger his upper body strength helped him to beat opponents.
How many times has Hernandez attempted to dribble (with the ball) past a defender? Very Few If he doesn't have the ball a defender won't attempt to hold/block him...If they do, then it will be a foul. Hernandez' game is about finding spaces that others don't....Due to the quality of his team-mates he is able to find space quite easily...
Someone said it, it is balance. I think if you try to compare it with Rugby you only get so much of the same example. I know from being a quick player trying to bulk up what it did to me and I had to back off for awhile, switch my routine, and get the balance right. Also, having the ball at your feet, trying to dribble, pass, strike it all takes energy out of you. How crap is your touch at the end of 90 minutes when you are unfit for example? again, someone said it, balance. One thing bulking up the leg muscles does help with is power but if you have the right technique that can compensate. I am partial on this subject as here in the states we still have a hard time with the differences of what is needed for Soccer players to that of Football, Basketball, baseball, etc. usually the strength coaches at colleges or high school just train everyone to be massive.
All you mentioned was strikers that depended on balls played over the top for them to run onto. What about strikers like Ian Rush,Samuel Eto'o,Marco Van Basten,Fernando Torres that played on the shoulder of the last defender and used their upper body strength to get round the back of defenders?
No, haven't played football in years unfortunately. Barely ever have any free time for playing football.
