Everton have revealed they are still planning for the football season to resume.
And despite a period of closure of ALL club facilities, including Goodison Park and the Finch Farm training ground after one of their players displayed symptoms of Coronavirus, they have given the squad individual programmes to maintain their playing levell.
All staff and players have been sent home, and will effectively spend of period of isolation from the club HQ, but boss Carlo Ancelotti is overseeing a programme of tailored fitness work for his player.
The club’s medical programme have devised the plan and sent it to each member of the first team squad, and keep in touch with daily video contact with players, and amongst coaching staff.
Everton’s Director of Medical Services, Danny Donachie, and Francesco Mauri, the Club’s Head of Physical Conditioning, have lead the programme, which sees them putting players through full training and medical routines, just as if they were still being conditioned at the club’s training ground.
All Everton facilities are closed until at least the weekend, and are likely to remain shuttered until the following week.
And Donachie explained that the plan now is to get them into as good as physical shape as possible, if and when the season resumes.
It is due to start again in April - though that is a tentative date - and the medical supremo said: The immediate priority was to supply players with conditioning advice for the suspension period.
“We have given them their usual gym programmes added to aerobic work they can do at home with a bike or treadmill, or in a safe outside space.
“The players follow individual gym programmes during the season, so the work they are doing is a continuation of that.”
Donachie told the club’s website that at this stage, with players at home, they do not need to do specific football work, with maintenance of fitness and strength conditioning the major priority.
“We have not given them any football-specific training for now and everything they are doing is as safe as possible in terms of avoiding injury,” he dded.
“Motivation is never an issue and there is some novelty for the players, they are at home and in their own gyms, so that benefits us in the short-term.”
Mauri was a direct appointment by Ancelotti when he arrived as manager in December, and he explained that the key now, is to give players an extensive aerobic programme to maintain their levels, allowing them to resume playing swiftly.
“It is a strange and difficult situation but we tried to react immediately…we decided to prepare a programme where the players have different training sessions for one week, but they can repeat those routines during subsequent weeks,” he said.
“We used our technology to send a programme with videos and descriptions of activities to the players. The training is focused on aerobic conditioning, strength and mobility.
“Our goal is to avoid loss of physical condition and some of the exercises are centred on injury prevention. I am sure that the players understand how it is important to move and to keep the body in good shape. We trust them and know they are professionals.”
