A Sunday Double Training Session
Under Sunny Ötztal Skies
On the second day of this year's training camp in Austria, the Bundesliga squad of 1. FC Union Berlin had two training sessions on the agenda for the first and only time. As in his playing days, Union head coach Bo Svensson had an eye on everything - and a ball at his feet.
Intensive, demanding and enduring
Before the working day could really get underway for the now 25 player squad, athletics coach Martin Krüger was responsible as usual for the warm-up and proper preparation. On a pitch next to the actual training ground, the professionals ran through various running and sprinting exercises in groups, some with and some without the ball, keeping the competitive nature of the supposedly smaller sessions at the top of the agenda.
Svensson had already completed his personal warm-up by this point. Even ten years after the end of his active career, the "once a footballer, always a footballer" still has an itch in his foot every now and then, especially during training, and then his co-training mates have to help out and play a few sharp balls.
He sets the standard he wants to see from his team in the training camp presented by sonnenschutz.de in every situation that arises. Influenced by his childhood in the north of Denmark, he "always has high expectations and always wants to tease out that little bit extra". During every session on the pitch, he is enthusiastically there, giving full physical commitment delivering numerous commands and comments. He lives his life and profession as a coach with a healthy dose of ambition, but he also always tries to convey the necessity that this must also be fun. It is at these moments that his colleagues come into play again. Be it jogging after training or an evening round of table tennis against compatriot and co-trainer Kristoffer Wichmann.
"Be ready"
The professionals, on the other hand, had somewhat less fun on the pitch today. The demanding Krüger programme was followed by a total of three exercises on pressing and chasing down the ball, in varying team sizes and on increasingly larger pitches. They repeatedly showed the commitment demanded by the coach, and if this was not the case, an authoritative, Danish accented "Be ready" rang out through the Längenfeld sports centre.
After lunch and treatments, the team continued with similar challenges and, completing the circle, Sunday ended in the same manner as it had begun. After an athletics session on strength and coordination in the legs, the training camp squad went into a well-deserved evening off a little later and looked forward to the joint video evening full of anticipation. The European Championship final will be watched late in the evening together with all the coaches and staff.
Quote of the day: "If we have set-pieces, they’ve got to be hot" – Bo Svensson on AFTV.
The diary entries at a glance:
