Chapter 679 - 127: Transforming Arsenal! The Curse of the No. 9 Jersey! Record Signing Fee and World’s Highest Salary

Backed by an industrial powerhouse, the Bundesliga’s training facilities are indeed state-of-the-art. The standard of training is also exceptionally high and scientifically driven.

Take the specialized training cage Wang Shuo mentioned, for example.

He had previously purchased two sets for the Huairun Football School, and they were still being calibrated.

But Wenger had never even heard of such a thing, let alone considered it.

Then there was the use of various high-definition cameras during training sessions.

Wenger was also quite interested in Dortmund’s training methods.

"Over the past two seasons, the quality of Dortmund’s training has improved dramatically, especially in terms of physical conditioning."

It’s common knowledge that Klopp’s tactics are incredibly demanding physically.

But what many people probably didn’t know was that Wenger’s tactics were just as demanding.

This was why Arsenal always looked so brilliant in the first half of the season, only to fall apart completely in the second half.

But over the past two seasons, particularly the last one, while Dortmund’s stamina still wasn’t perfect, they had at least made enormous strides.

Many people, Wenger included, had been observing Dortmund and were naturally aware of individuals like Oliver Bartlett and Professor Schrenberg.

They had all been covered by the media.

Wang Shuo was also full of praise for them, believing they played a crucial role in improving Dortmund’s physical conditioning and endurance.

Wenger, however, was more concerned about whether it was possible to poach Oliver Bartlett and Professor Schrenberg from Dortmund.

"Honestly, poaching them alone wouldn’t be that significant," Wang Shuo replied, feeling it was unnecessary.

"How so?" Wenger asked, surprised.

"The whole concept of physical conditioning in the German Football Scene has undergone a massive change."

"A change in concept?"

"That’s right." Wang Shuo nodded seriously. "Think about it. What’s the ultimate goal of physical conditioning?"

"The game, of course."

"And isn’t the purpose of training to improve performance in those games?"

"Of course."

"In 2004, when Klinsmann took over the Germany National Team, he brought in a fitness coach from the United States named Sad Fossett. After Klinsmann stepped down, Lővér kept him on."

"It was because of him that Oliver Bartlett joined the Germany National Team staff in 2008."

A "fitness coach" is different from a traditional "strength and conditioning coach."

In the past, the traditional role was the "Strength and Conditioning Coach."

But then the role of "Fitness Coach" was added, which you could also call a personal trainer.

The two are often confused, but their responsibilities are actually different.

The Fitness Coach focuses more on aspects like strength, endurance, and flexibility. Their domain is primarily the gym.

So, what about now?

"Now in Germany, a new type of conditioning coach has emerged, called a ’Physical Performance Coach.’"

"Sad Fossett’s role with the Germany National Team is a step beyond that. He’s a ’Performance Manager,’ or what you might call a Head of Performance."

Wenger was fascinated. "What’s the difference between them and the previous strength and conditioning or fitness coaches?"

"Their responsibilities are much broader. They treat football as a science."

"For example?"

"A Performance Coach’s scope covers sports science, physical therapy and rehabilitation, technical training, tactical training, psychology, nutrition... basically, anything and everything related to an athlete’s body is part of their purview."

"A Head of Performance like Sad Fossett is no longer responsible for running specific training drills."

"Their most important job is coordination and communication between the sports science experts, physical therapists, team doctors, masseurs, performance analysts, technical coaches, conditioning coaches, performance coaches, and the rest of the coaching staff..."

"They provide professional advice on players’ physical condition, training load adjustments, recommended tactical workloads, and player recovery. They collaborate with all other departments to meet the personalized needs of each and every athlete."

As a professional manager, Wenger immediately grasped the core of what Wang Shuo was saying.

’Training used to be so one-size-fits-all.’

’Technical players, power players, forwards, midfielders, defenders—they were all just lumped together.’

’Some teams might have grouped players, but the categories were never very specific.’

’After all, a coaching staff’s resources are limited.’

’But now?’

The concept Wang Shuo was describing was personalization: creating training programs tailored to each individual player.

This placed a much higher demand on the coaching staff.

Take the simplest example.

In the past, with the one-size-fits-all approach, recovery meant everyone recovered together. If the exercise was jumping rope, everyone jumped rope. If it was time to hit the gym for using resistance bands and weightlifting, everyone did that together too.

But now?

During a single training session, at the very same time, you might have some players jumping rope, some using resistance bands, some lifting weights, and others running laps.

And a player who finishes running laps might move on to jumping rope, while another who just finished jumping rope might go work with resistance bands.

During the session, each player has a different regimen of exercises arranged according to their specific needs.

It’s even possible for on-the-fly adjustments to be made during an exercise based on a player’s real-time feedback.

That is the essence of meeting personalized needs!

Listening to all this, Wenger had a moment of epiphany.

’The benefits are obvious: every player receives targeted training, allowing them to improve much faster.’

’But what about the downsides?’

’In the past, you might have only needed a few coaches. Now, you might need a dozen, or even several dozen.’