"If the players are lying on their backs at the end of the training session then I know: It was a good session. If there's talk and laughter afterwards then the FFT wasn't right," says Bosz with a grin. The FFT session at the training camp in La Manga appears to have been a good one as the Werkself players fell down at the final whistle and had to get their breath back. The focus with FFT is on fitness rather than the style of play: "At the end of the day, it's only about how much each individual player has run and, above all, sprinted," explained Bosz.
He split his players up into two teams on half a pitch and then went through several drills with a minute between each one. At the moment, the Werkself do 4×13 minutes. "We keep increasing the time. At the start of the season we began with 3×12 minutes but then increased it to 3×13, 4×12 minutes etc," said the Dutchman. The intensity is particularly high with FFT as it simulates the workload over a 90-minute game but without the breaks.
At first sight, 4×13 minutes may not sound much but it's about so-called net minutes as Bosz explained: "A normal game lasts approximately between 52 and 58 net minutes," with the ball not in play for the rest of the time. "So 4×13 minutes is actually very demanding."
The values for individual players during an FFT session are assessed during training. Peter Bosz likes to stand around the centre circle during the drills. "I like being there most because you have a different perspective and are better able to judge the distances between the players. That's why I’m the referee as well. But I'm the sort the doesn't like to blow the whistle a lot as the game has to keep going."
The head coach is informed in the centre circle if a player has not clocked up enough kilometres. His assistant coach Terry Peters stands on the touchline alongside Dr Malte Krüger, the Bayer 04 sports scientist, with an iPad and observes the live stats for individual players. "It can happen from time to time that Terry comes up to me and says a player isn't doing enough. Then I can pick him out and get him going," said Bosz.
The running performance drops with each drill over the course of a normal FFT session: "When you start, everything is just right and the players run and the values are always high. In the normal course of events the distance covered in the second, third and at the beginning of the fourth round drops further. But, towards the end, the players give their all and the curve goes up slightly."
Bosz adopted the FFT training method from a Dutch football fitness expert Raymond Verheijen who was his mentor when he was starting out. The 48-year-old is considered to be one of the leading coaches in the area of football fitness worldwide and he has worked at three World Cups and three European Championships with Holland, South Korea and Russia and he has also worked with top teams like Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester City. "I was lucky I got to know Raymond when I was coach at Heracles Almelo," explained Bosz. "I called him up and said: I definitely want to learn this training method!"
He wasn't really interested in the physical terminology that was taught at the sports university. "Verheijen just talked to me about football." And that led to Peter Bosz "just playing football" each week – without big breaks of course.
A first win in the preseason: In the last friendly before the start of a two-week break in training, the Bayer 04 Women beat top-flight Dutch side Ajax 1-0. In the match played over three 30-minute thirds Vanessa Fudalla scored the goal for the Werkself. In the previous two friendlies this summer, the team led by head coach Roberto Pätzold lost 2-0 two Bundesliga rivals TSG Hoffenheim and drew 1-1 with the Dutch team PEC Zwolle.
Show moreAlejo Sarco has joined the Werkself training camp in Brazil. The 19-year-old striker, signed from Argentinian club Vélez Sarsfield in January, talks to bayer04.de about his first six months in Germany, help from Exequiel Palacios and his targets up to the end of the year.
Show moreThe friendly against the CR Flamengo U20 team on Friday, 18 July (kick-off: 14:30/19:30 CEST) represents the sporting highlight of the current Bayer 04 Brazil Tour. Ahead of the clash at the Estádio da Gávea against the highly successful youth team, there was a media event with the two Bayer 04 managing directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes plus head coach Erik ten Hag. The trio talked about the forthcoming opponents, first impressions of Brazil and the reasons for holding the training camp in the land of the five-time World Cup winners. Here are the key statements.
Show moreDay three of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour. Today, Thursday 17 July, sees the two new signings Jarell Quansah and Christian Kofane join the squad in training. Plus the former Werkself players Paulo Sergio and Rodrigo Chagas visit the Bayer AG Football School. In the afternoon there is a big media event ahead of the friendly against the Flamengo U20s. As usual, Bayer04.de keeps you up-to-date with on-the-spot reports. The blog for day three of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour (timings given in local time).
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