Neil Baker says players have to come back fit or will be left behind.
Neil Baker says that the new format of training will allow the club’s coaching staff to work with the players on more tactical issues in the pre-season. The Crewe Alexandra playing squad will now report back on June 16th ahead of the pre-season fixtures with Andy Franks working on their fitness and conditioning for the first couple of weeks.
In early July, Steve Davis and his coaches Baker and James Collins will begin work on preparing the team tactically. This idea differs from previous seasons when the players had to fulfil a number of sessions over the summer. This tended to see the players go on their holidays at different times and Davis wanted a more uniformed structure to the summer programme.
The players are working on their own fitness in their own time and many are continuing to train three times a week anyway at the club’s training complex at Reaseheath.
Neil told crewealex.net: “It will be important that the players have a good foundation of fitness for when they report back. They have their own programmes to work towards and most of them have been at some point over the closed season already.
“They will have their testing and work on their fitness and injury prevention. We will then have more time to work on the tactical side of things and what we want to do with them.
“It was always Dario’s idea never to flog players in pre-season and we have carried that on. The days of players running all day up hills are long gone. What we are aiming for is that at the beginning of July we will be ready to work on the football side of things.
“We had two or three who finished the season with an injury so they are having to play catch-up but the closed season and pre-season gives them the perfect opportunity to do that.”