On May 28th, Beijing Guoan's preparation for the match at Fengti Base has entered its 10th day, and manager Bilic is building a solid physical foundation for his players through intensive training. Witnessing each player's full commitment, Bilic is full of confidence in the upcoming Chinese Super League.
Since assembling on May 19, the coaching team's top priority has been to improve the players' physical fitness, both to lay a solid foundation for the second phase of the league, which will restart in mid-to-late June, and to help the players build up their fitness and prevent future injuries that may be triggered by fatigue.
Physical trainer Ivo directs training
Physical trainer Ivo Katuic revealed that the core of the team's training at this stage is the physical reserve combined with the intensity of the game. High-intensity running and sprinting is a must in every training session. The total running distance of each player in each training session is more than 6,000 meters, and the sprinting distance in each training session is not less than the sprinting distance in the official game. In response to the effect of the training, Ivo said, "Under such high intensity training, every player performed very well, I give them full marks."
After the high-intensity running training, the coaching team will also be interspersed with a variety of technical and tactical training, training rhythm is compact, comprehensive simulation of the actual battle. According to the coaching team's plan, the next two weeks of training will continue to maintain a higher intensity, to help players do a good job of physical reserves.
Ivo also revealed that he has established an effective communication channel with the physical fitness coach of the Chinese men's national team in order to get hold of the training and match data of the six Guoan international players in the national team, so as to remotely monitor the physical condition of the international players.
Park Sung participates in confrontation training
In addition, several injured players in the team are now actively recovering, and Park Sung, the midfielder that fans are looking forward to, has already kept up with the training rhythm of the whole team and participated in group confrontations, and is expected to return to the field in the next stage of the league.
Seeing that the players' physical training has achieved stage-by-stage results, Bilic said that the team's combination of ball training and physical strengthening at this stage has had a remarkable effect. The players' training attitude is very positive, which will bring a boost to the next stage of the league.
Guoan's first four rounds of the first phase of the Chinese Super League (the fifth round match with Hebei was postponed) resulted in two wins and two losses, with injuries to a number of key players, including Bieira and Wang Gang. It can be said that this off-season is crucial for Guoan to play well in the league this season.
Bilic and his team of assistant coaches have always been in a race against time, assisting injured players in their active recovery while grasping the team to integrate several new and late returning players into the team system.
Bilic said the team has improved one game at a time in the first four rounds of the league, especially in Wuhan, and has played the smooth and precise teamwork he expected. Despite suffering two consecutive losses, he, like his players, has not lost confidence but has used a two-game winning streak to regain the team's rightful position.
Bakambu practicing extra shooting
At present, Bilic needs to face the problems of injuries to the main players and the inability of the foreigners to play at full strength. In this regard, Bilic admitted that there exists the possibility for the club to look for new foreign aiders now, but considering the impact of the epidemic, including the problem of bonding time with the team, there is a certain difficulty in bringing in new aiders. Therefore, he expects Bieira and other core players to recover soon, so that the team's lineup can maintain strong competitiveness at the beginning of the second stage of the league.
Bilic will also have to contend with the uncertainty of the form and fitness of six internationals after their World Qualifiers outings, all of which will require targeted adjustments before the league resumes.
In response to these possible problems, Bilic maintains an optimistic attitude. He admitted that with the experience of the first four rounds of matches and the overall understanding of the Chinese Super League, the team will continue to improve its competitiveness in the second phase and continue to move towards the goal of title contention.
