Q&A with Hurzeler ahead of Kashima Antlers friendly

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The head coach will watch his team play their first pre-season friendly as they take on Kashima Antlers on Wednesday.

2024-07-23T12:00+01:00

Fabian Hurzeler gives a team talk in Tokyo

How has training been in Japan so far?

"The work on the pitch makes it a lot of fun with the players, because you really feel their energy, the attitude to the training, their work ethic is very positive.

"The standards of the training session is quite high, so it makes it a lot of fun to work with them. They try to adapt quick, they try to improve things really quick."

How have you been using this time away?

"We’re using this time for getting more connected to each other, to get to know each other better, not only the players and the new staff, also the players and staff themselves. We have to get to know each other, so we use the time to work hard on the pitch and work also off the pitch hard to get to know each other better."

What has the attitude of the players been like?

"They are really demanding from each other. They support each other. You see there is experience and good leaders on the pitch who have good communication.

"You see that also the young players. There's a clear hierarchy, that's very important in my philosophy, that we have the hierarchy, we have the leaders, we have the team players, and the players who are more the creative players. I think the balance is very good.

"Then it's about, communication. For me, communication on the pitch is so important to help each other, so that the man who is behind communicates with the man in front.

"I think Billy [Gilmour] and James [Milner] are good examples, so are Adam Webster and Jason Steele – all the leaders, experienced players, they are great in these things. And communication beside the pitch is important as well. We try to communicate a lot."

Your team play Kashima Antlers on Wednesday. How are the players’ minutes going to be managed?

"I think we will have a different team in each half. We will have a look at our players who have had some problems with their muscles, how they can adapt with the intensity, how they feel with their jet lag, how they adapt to the humidity here. It's all the things we have to talk to the medical team, we have a close communication with each other and then we'll decide. But the idea is to play two times 45 minutes and then on Sunday [in the next game] we might increase the duration or the amount of minutes for each player but we'll have a look."

Are some of the young players impressing you or making a good impression?

"I'm not the biggest fan of just mentioning one player, but I really like the attitude. I think that Shannon [Ruth], the under-21 coach has done a great, great job because you see that the players can deal with the intensity. They are clear in understanding the game and they have a great impact on the whole team here, so you don't see a lot of difference.

"That's a very important thing for me, that they can show this intensity in training and that's why I'm really happy to have an under 21 coach like Shannon, because he always creates the things for me so that I can challenge the under-21 players a lot. That's why I'm really happy that all of these players are here and they have done a great job so far."