On Saturday our lads only trained once, but it was a long session of 2.5 hours. After a long warm up and some pass and shoot sequences, the players were divided into 3 groups of 8. These three teams played matches amongst themselves, in which commitment was high, and nobody shrank from tackles and interceptions. The team not playing ran around the outside of the pitch whilst the other two teams played, followed by stretching.
The five newcomers all showed themselves to be reinforcements. The defenders had their hands full with Nikolic, a robust attacker, who played with a great deal of commitment, and knew how to find his way to goal. Nedzipi appeared to still have to adapt, but showed his ability on several occasions, and frequently indulged in horseplay with his direct opponent.
The Macedonian left footer scored a number of times, but also showed himself to possess a good right foot, with which he beat Vanderjeugt once. De Graef and Tshiala showed themselves to be reliable defenders, with the necessary constructive qualities. Dreesen held his own in the centre of defence.
New strikers’ trainer Nico Jansen was present for the first time, and regularly gave directions to the strikers.
There were four absentees from training: Wahed (thigh), Ventose and Samir (knee) were both suffering slight bother with their injuries. Peeters (achilles) can start rehabilitation on Monday.
The schedule for the next few days:
Monday 10.00: Strength and running training (60′)
Monday 14.30: Training in Bevel (90′)
Tuesday 10.00: Running training (65′)
Tuesday 14.30: Training in Bevel (90′)
Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: Training twice per day
Saturday: 1 x training
Monday: First pre-season match at Pulle
Via THIS LINK you can view an extensive photo report of the training