PINZOLO - Thirteen seasons at the side of Walter Mazzarri. Now Giuseppe Pondrelli is ready to take on a new challenge together with the Tuscan coach: taking Inter back to the top through hard work, always the foundation of any success.
After training, the fitness coach talked to Inter Channel about the programme the team will follow during the training camp and beyond.
How long have you worked with Walter Mazzarri?
"We met during our time with Bologna’s Primavera side, which was in the 2000/01 season, so this is the thirteenth year. It was definitely good luck for me because the coach has always asked me to come with him to all the teams he’s been with. After Bologna’s Primavera team, those include: Acireale in Serie C2, Pistoiese in C1, Livorno in B, three years at Reggina in Serie A, two with Sampdoria and four with Napoli."
And you’re from Bologna?
"Yes, I’m from Bologna."
It’s often said that behind every great man there’s a great woman. Similarly, can we say that behind every great coach there’s a great fitness coach?
"I don’t agree. We believe our staff’s good fortune is that we work with a very good coach who, in my opinion, makes us all come off looking a bit better."
How is the work being carried out in Pinzolo? Are you getting to know the group of players?
"After a few introductory days in Appiano Gentile of recovery training and fitness tests we started the classic double sessions for pre-season preparation. We work in a fairly traditional manner: two sessions with a technical and tactical part as well as fitness. Clearly it’s more tilted to the fitness end in this period, although there’s always a ball involved, as you’ve seen. Then over the coming weeks the fitness work will decrease in quantity and there will be more of a focus on quality, perhaps with more ball work involved."
We’ve noticed a lot of physical work, particularly running. The lads finish tired, and rightly so. Are these positive signs?
"You could go out on the pitch and make the players run for two hours, from the start of training until the end. Of course it would kill them, but it wouldn’t do much good for football. It’s right that they’re tired after having trained for the sport that they practice. Fatigue comes from both training after a break as well as tactical work or work with the ball that the coach has you undergo. Not just from running for your fitness coach."
During the season will the logic behind your work become clear? Il Corriere della Sera ran the headline, 'Pondrelli, the Muscle Magician'.
"Perhaps they exaggerated a bit [smiling]. We have a training methodology that so far, together with the coach’s methods, has brought quite a few benefits in terms of performance and injury prevention. In the end it’s a contact sport, with clashes at high speed. So it’s not often possible to foresee the injuries that can come along. For now we’ve been good and lucky when it comes to performance and injuries. Clearly everyone is working hard on it. The athlete needs the technical staff and medical staff, but he also has to live a healthy lifestyle as a professional. A collection of things that can all help reduce the number of injuries."
