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As Premier League squads begin physically conditioning themselves for the Christmas schedule from mid-December, the former players among the coaching staff often find themselves laughing at how it used to be.
Back in the mid-1990s, it could mean four games in nine – or even eight – days. There were barely any breaks. It already sounds unhealthy for players, but it was also about how it felt. Some from the mid-2000s now shake their heads at how their main memory of the period wasn’t jaded legs or turkey at the training ground, but an upset stomach. That was because many players effectively had “caffeine routines” on matchdays, which they then had to repeat again and again in quick succession.
I used to ghostwrite a column for Stephen Hunt, and he told me that for a 3pm kick-off it would be two coffees in the morning, followed by a Red Bull – or an energy drink called Phase 1, the equivalent of around six coffees – and usually some caffeine tablets on top. Their heart rate would already be elevated before they played, and they could barely eat afterwards because their stomach was so raw.
On the sound of that, it probably ought to form part of the argument over whether caffeine should be banned from football.
Preparation is obviously far more scientific now, even if those discarded snus pouches have become a familiar sight around some training grounds.
At the very least, we are long past the point where the congested Christmas schedule functioned as a mini stress test for a team’s endurance over the season. There even used to be some correlation between who collected the most points at Christmas and who eventually won the league.
This season, the schedule more closely resembles a standard European rhythm. All teams are playing four games across 11 to 13 days – weekend, midweek, weekend, midweek. Many are well used to that cadence, even if the fact that every one of these matches is a Premier League game brings a different level of intensity.
What this spell now offers is a test of a different kind – and one that hints at a broader evolution in football. It is the shift from manager-led clubs to what might be called “performance-led” clubs: organisations where science dictates decision-making at every level.
That may sound surprising given that every coaching staff is now surrounded by reams of data. The difference, however, lies in how much those decisions are actually shaped by it.
It has become the bane of some sporting directors’ careers.
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