Fitness

Would it be fair to say that we may have one of the fittest squads in League 2?

Looks that way thankfully

The boys are certainly fit for sure  but how can you ask that question seriously without seeing all other L2 teams play.?
And I would argue fitness is only part of a successful team  desire plays just as big a part I'd have thought.
Utm

Let’s have a look tomorrow night maybe. Saturday would’ve taken a lot of the squad and a few were (rightly) properly blowing at the end. Taylor, Clifton, Glennon all out on their feet, was surprised Taylor managed as long as he did without the benefit of a proper pre-season.

Wouldn’t be surprised to see Kiernan starting ahead of Clifton tomorrow.

Quoted from MidnightMariner

The boys are certainly fit for sure but how can you ask that question seriously without seeing all other L2 teams play.?
And I would argue fitness is only part of a successful team  desire plays just as big a part I'd have thought.
Utm

"Would it be fair to say that we may have one of the fittest squads in League 2?"  And I can ask that question as I live in the UK!

Pretty sure all sides will be very fit nowadays but tend to agree that maybe where we do have an advantage is in commitment and desire which has been well demonstrated in the last two league games.

Quoted from 123614

"Would it be fair to say that we may have one of the fittest squads in League 2?"  And I can ask that question as I live in the UK!

Well woukd it be fair to say I have one of the biggest tackle's in the UK?
Or have you seen all of them too ? 😄

Since when did being maybe one of the fittest teams in the league ever get us 3 points.........


........oh hang on

Quoted from MidnightMariner

Well woukd it be fair to say I have one of the biggest tackle's in the UK?
Or have you seen all of them too ? 😄

Your tackle is not something that is on display every Saturday...................or is it!!  

Whilst I'll sit on the fence as to whether we actually are one of the fittest teams in L2 after only 3 games, I will definitely agree that  it does seem that way  - our propensity to score late goals and come into the game more in the second half are big indicators of that.
Where the odd shaped balls are in play, a lot of Wales early success under Warren Gatland was purely because they were fitter than the opposition and committed to playing the full 80, and would grind out the win in last 10-20 minutes

Couldn’t help thinking in the second half on Saturday that if this team has the energy to press like we did in 31 degrees we’re going to overpower some teams when it gets a bit cooler.
It seems we also have the mobility and flexibility in midfield and defence to cover the gaps the high press inevitably creates.

Quoted from 123614

Your tackle is not something that is on display every Saturday...................or is it!!  

I'll dm you a free link to my onlyfans page 🙃
Be warned tho....im not as fit as the team lol

Quoted from MidnightMariner

The boys are certainly fit for sure  but how can you ask that question seriously without seeing all other L2 teams play.?
And I would argue fitness is only part of a successful team  desire plays just as big a part I'd have thought.
Utm

Thankfully we have that in spades!

They're fit, but I assume your question also relates to our habit of scoring goals late on. This is mental strength and character as well as conditioning. A reflection on the sort of lads Paul Hurst has brought in. In both of his spells to be fair, wrong uns, those slow to take onboard his demands or those that haven't bought into what he's trying to achieve don't last long.

It’s a well known fact that Hurst wanted a strength and conditioning coach and the previous regime weren’t arsed because it cost money.

All clubs have these types of coaches these days and whilst I do think we’re extremely fit, I’d imagine other teams are equally as fit.

Our late goals come from a combination of things including fitness and desire. Self belief and endeavour.

Attitude and desire go a long way in getting late goals but you need to be physically fit to still be in with a chance. Most teams have fitness staff and that stops you falling behind in that area but I think we have some physical freaks of nature in the ranks such as Green and Clifton. Waterfall is a machine too, he just doesn't seem to get injuries.

Whilst attitude and desire goes a long way, you don't win 3 games in extra time in 2 weeks without being fitter than your opponents. Why we are fitter is in part down to the great work of our coaching staff but also recruitment.

Some Rochdale fans on their forum commented on the fitness levels of both teams. They noted that we conserved energy were as they went full on and were knackered by half time.
One interesting comment was that they watched both teams warm up before kick off. They went full on were as we conserved energy in the heat and only did a gentle warm up.
Small margins

Quoted from 123614

Would it be fair to say that we may have one of the fittest squads in League 2?

Definitely. A number of them are quite good looking but for me, personally, it's the rugged manliness of Waterfall that stands out.

I genuinely wonder how much of our fitness and desire is helped by the atmosphere created by our fans.  It must be a buzz late on when your flagging to have our lot roaring you on.
Of course the fitness level has to be there to.begin with, but nevertheless I do believe we play a part.
UTM

Quoted from mimma

Some Rochdale fans on their forum commented on the fitness levels of both teams. They noted that we conserved energy were as they went full on and were knackered by half time.
One interesting comment was that they watched both teams warm up before kick off. They went full on were as we conserved energy in the heat and only did a gentle warm up.
Small margins

They didn't look unfit in the slightest. They pressed hard from the very beginning and dominated. We didn't press until the 2nd half, not surprising our players looked like they had a bit more at the end, but Rochdale didn't look tired to me, just we raised our game.

Last night's postponement I think,  whilst a shame for the crowd, could be really beneficial for us come the Sutton and Forest games. We are going to be a lot fresher for both, after what was an energy-sapping game against Rochdale and, what would have been 4 games in quick succession had last night's game gone ahead.

Quoted from wuffing

Last night's postponement I think,  whilst a shame for the crowd, could be really beneficial for us come the Sutton and Forest games. We are going to be a lot fresher for both, after what was an energy-sapping game against Rochdale and, what would have been 4 games in quick succession had last night's game gone ahead.

good point - gives us a bit more breathing space in achieving 100% fitness level, coz I'm sure there's still a bit of catching up to be done, given our truncated pre season

Quoted from Civvy at last

I genuinely wonder how much of our fitness and desire is helped by the atmosphere created by our fans.  It must be a buzz late on when your flagging to have our lot roaring you on.
Of course the fitness level has to be there to.begin with, but nevertheless I do believe we play a part.
UTM

Agree. I remember thinking about this during extra time against Solihull. Our numbers gave us an edge and there was nonstop singing in the sections around us up to JMD'S winner. It must be a lift to hear that when energy levels are dropping. It's corny to say it but there are definitely times when the 12th man makes a difference.

Solihull we’re dead on their feet, much like when we played Braintree in the playoffs, they too, were dead on their feet.

Rochdale the same, they started hundred miles an hour but in truth didn’t threaten Crocombe, it was sweltering so their reserves were gone too. I thought we played it sensible and it paid off.

Being fit is one thing, using your fitness sensibly is another and I believe that’s what we do. That said, desire and a will to win is something Hurst as built in. Those playoff games weren’t a fluke in so much that we kept going and still believed. We believed we could score from that free kick at County, that we could match up and go one better than Wrexham and that we didn’t need to see extra time out, we had enough about us to go and win.

Desire and that will to win will only get you so far though before physically you cannot do anymore.  Certainly over the course of an extended period of games, your body will just put the brakes on.

I think there's multiple factors at play here.  On the psychological level there's a natural belief that's installed in the players, no doubt that will have come from Hurst and his staff but also from characters in the dressing room.  The likes of Pearson, Waterfall, from this season the newbies like Green who you can see are natural winners.  The types who will kick their grannies over the line.   That's contagious.  Be it dragging you or you following them, people will go with leaders into war and they'll run through brick walls with them.  It wouldn't surprise me if Hurst has got access to sports psychologist now too.

No doubt the crowd has an impact too.  I think the impact of a vocal home crowd can be overstated at times but the positivity that comes from either a large home crowd or a boxed in away following can have an impact, even if it's that siege mentality when outnumbered that spills into the players on the pitch.  

But it's the sheer conditioning of the players that has the biggest impact on our ability to go the last gasps of games and come up on top.  Once or twice a season it's to be expected.  But it's continual.  The longer games go on, the more dangerous we look.  Rochdale was the exception in the heat and we clearly played the smart game with them.  But you can almost see the tactic is to exhaust teams with our high press, take them to the brink and then kick on another level when they're staggering.

Absolute credit to S&C guys at the club, I think it's Greg Howard isn't it?  Its the work of him and his team that are giving the players the physical ability to push deeper but also the confidence to do so, knowing they've got it in them.

I don't think I've seen a fitter set of GTFC players in the 30+ years I've been following them.