Paco Hill!

[Red2Core]

Liverpool ease up on the fitness front

Jul 17 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

 

LIVERPOOL’S players returned to pre-season training a fortnight ago relieved to hear Rafa Benitez has slightly amended their punishing schedule ahead of the new campaign.

 

Since the Spanish manager took over, the demanding physical preparation overseen by Pako Ayesteran has been compared to the Marines.

 

Liverpool have been transformed into one of the fittest squads in Europe, but there have been observations the benefits are more noticeable from the middle of the season onwards, with some players struggling earlier in the campaign.

 

The meticulous management team have assessed every factor which could influence a flying start to the season as they look to fine tune their players ahead of the August kick-off.

 

And while there’s nothing Benitez and his staff can do about the arduous travelling arrangements to the Far East and Holland later this month, they will be altering their training in a bid to ensure their side doesn’t suffer in the key early months.

 

“We know the importance of making a good start and that depends on a number of factors,” explained Benitez.

 

“You always need to see how each players settles into the club, but we also have players who are very experienced and this will also help.

 

“We have been making a number of small changes to the training this summer. Our idea is to train a bit less, but when we do train it will be with more intensity.”

 

On most days the players endure double training sessions, but Benitez has included rest days into the schedule this summer.

 

Last week the squad even enjoyed a day off – unheard of during the first three pre-seasons of the Benitez reign.

 

There is no compromise on the effort demanded from the players, however.

 

At Melwood, there is an area referred to as ‘Pako Hill’. That’s where the assistant manager mounted some turf, creating his own hill for the players to run up and down during their stamina exercises.

 

Link

 

Pako

 

All right, listen up. You people are not dying on me in prem. You f***ing, new guys will do everything to prove me wrong. You'll walk on trails, kick bitters snap mancs, smoke chavs and diddely-bop through the league like you were back on the block. On away games you'll write letters, play with your organ and think of your girl back home. Forget her. Some hair head has her on her back right now and is telling her to f*** for fun. This is football. Those of you who are foolish will think of it as...easy, simple, or a walk in the park. It's your enemy. He came over on the 1990 pre football programme. And he will go back there after he fattens on your shame. And he will be hunting your young asses in woodison . Now forget about this Chav manc s***. What you'll encounter out there is hard core w*****s, northern footballers...motivated, highly trained and well equipped. Now go out an kill them kill them all.

[IgPig]

Pako

[Paul_LFC]

Best thing about Pako is that he is about as dedicated to his role as Rafa is to his own role and thats a hard task to near Rafa's levels of work!

[Swipe]

Best thing about Pako is that he is about as dedicated to his role as Rafa is to his own role and thats a hard task to near Rafa's levels of work!

 

Saw Balague talking a few weeks ago and he said Pako was one of the best assistant coaches in the world

[sutty]

One of the fittest squads in Europe?

 

They f***ing cramp up a lot...

[Mike]

carragher cramps like a b*****d.

[Jezzman]

I watched the Liverpool Legends on Monday and they're really fit.... kept fighting us in the beer war until 4 in the morning...

[Walrus]

More from Pako

 

Pako aims at peak fitness

Jul 27 2007 by Chris Bascombe, Liverpool Echo

 

Pako aims at peak fitness

 

THERE’S a mound of turf at Melwood which the Liverpool stars have dubbed ‘Pako Hill’.

 

As metaphors for the last three years at Anfield go, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better one than the sight of the team regularly struggling to reach its peak.

 

When Rafa Benitez’s chief lieutenant, Pako Ayesteran, created the training aid – a man-made hill which players pound up and down – he visualised Liverpool becoming the fittest team in the world.

 

He said: "Every year we're trying to improve the facilities, and the peak is another way of doing this. There are three. One is is 34m long with a gradiant of 5. The other is 24m with a gradient of 5. Another is 70m long."

 

As someone disinterested in plaudits, it’s no surprise he dismisses any suggestion he’s near to achieving his goal.

 

It was once said of one of Ayesteran’s legendary predecessors, Ronnie Moran, that no matter how much hype surrounded Liverpool’s progress, he could be relied upon to provide the reality check and demand much more.

 

Ayesteran is cut from the same cloth. He’s a confessed sceptic when it comes to assessing his team’s current standing.

 

Despite welcoming a series of leaps in the right direction, he maintains Liverpool will only be ready to make the final step with a fundamental change in the psychology of the club.

 

“We have to change the culture surrounding Liverpool,” says Ayesteran. “All of us have responsibility, from the coaching staff, the players, the board and the supporters.

 

“The change I’m talking about is a mental one. I’m not sure if Liverpool is ready to accept change, and this could be our biggest obstacle to taking our next step.

 

“Everyone needs to accept there are too many games in England but everyone says every competition is important, but I don’t agree with that.

 

“If we expect the same players to start in every competition, we can not be successful. We would be able to get more from all the players in the most important games if it was recognised a club of Liverpool’s size should not see all these competitions as important.

 

“Also, in English football too much is made of starting with the same 11 each week.

 

“It would be fantastic for the board if this was possible. We could use just 11 players every season and not have tospend money to have a 23 man squad.

 

“Some players have had too much pressure on them for too long. When we arrived, people were saying how in the years before Stevie (Gerrard) had to carry too much responsibility for the team on and off the park. This was not fair on him or his team mates.

 

“To be successful, you can’t be looking to the same individuals all the time. It has to be group effort.”

 

Ayesteran senses danger if too much is anticipated in the months to come.

 

“I’m not thinking in terms of expectations for this season,” he says. “To have a winning team is a process. If you have to sign six players in the summer, I don’t think it’s a good situation if you want to win the title.

 

“I’ve never seen a major transformation in any team within a year. Even when we won La Liga with Valencia for the first time, the side had been improving gradually in the years earlier.

 

“Manchester United did not win the title because of last year. They won it because they’ve improved over three years and earned their reward, buying just two or three players each season.

 

“First we must put ourselves in a position where we can see ourselves winning the Premier. I don’t think we are in that position yet, so that’s the first ambition.

 

“Can Liverpool say it has been close to the league in the last five years? No. Of course we have to believe we can be close, but I think to expect to win it this season would be a big mistake.

 

“Sometimes when you react to big expectations you make decisions to get quick results when you should be thinking over the medium and long term.

 

“That also leads to mistakes. This is where Manchester United have done things properly.

 

“Winning the Champions League in our first season increased expectations on us, but we were not a great team. You only have to get through 11 games to win that competition.”

 

No doubt Ayesteran’s brutal assessment will be interpreted in some quarters as negative.

 

He refutes this, insisting he’s being realistic for the club’s own good.

 

“As a group, we are all thinking positively,” he insists. “That’s how you get the best from everyone. Whether positive thinking alone is enough, I don’t know, but whatever the situation you can be certain we’ll all be working hard.

 

“The spine of our team is as good as any in the league. I wouldn’t change the spine of our team with that of Chelsea or Manchester United. The rest of the squad is where we need to improve and that will determine how close we can go, but the new players must also be given time.

 

“We’re on the way to where we want to be and we have more solutions now thanwe did three years ago, but people must realise there’s still a way to go.”

 

Until then, Liverpool’s players will still be trying to reach that elusive summit.

 

“It was Robbie Fowler who first called the area of Melwood Pako Hill, or Pako Peak. I tried to get the players to work with me for a week to build it, but they wouldn’t!” laughed the assistant boss.

 

As long as Ayesteran keeps leading them up it, Liverpool may eventually hit the heights they’re craving.

 

Gotta love the man

[Sion]

Wouldn't be suprised if Pako soon finds himself going into management of a club himself.

[Billy Talbot]

“It was Robbie Fowler who first called the area of Melwood Pako Hill, or Pako Peak. I tried to get the players to work with me for a week to build it, but they wouldn’t!” laughed the assistant boss.

 

f***ing pussies

[Clay Davis]

Wouldn't be suprised if Pako soon finds himself going into management of a club himself.

our next manager?

[Zoob]

Paco's great, but I'm glad we've eased up a bit on the physical work this pre-season. Last 2 seasons we've looked v v fit from Nov/Dec onwards but for the first few months of the season we've looked lacklustre, and as everyone knows, results wise we've been poor.

 

Good piece from the Times

 

Liverpool were the first of the Big Four to resume training and at a camp in Switzerland the players found themselves cycling to and from double-practice sessions over hilly terrain, instead of the comfort of a luxury coach.

 

“It’s been hard like any preseason but with a lot more ball work. Last year there was an emphasis on physical work but this year we’ve been doing a lot more on team shape and helping the new players fit in. We need to be right at it from the first Premier League game,” said Peter Crouch."

Edited July 29, 2007 by Zoob

[Benitez]

Wouldn't be suprised if Pako soon finds himself going into management of a club himself.

 

 

don't know about that. Pako isn't a coach in the sense Rafa is, so unless you mean managment as being hands off and running a club from an office, rather than coaching the teams as they do in this country, I can't see Pako doing that. He isn't the tactical coach that Rafa is. He's the fitness guru! I'd be very surprised if he and Rafa split up ( )

Edited July 29, 2007 by Benitez

[Maldini]

Gerrard said Pako is a football genius

[Guest PaulMcC]

I think Rafa said him and Pako talk about tactics together then make a decision on tactics.

[Walrus]

 

It's interesting to look at those quotes from Pako in the light of the recent developments.

[Guest Phil Eel]

don't know about that. Pako isn't a coach in the sense Rafa is, so unless you mean managment as being hands off and running a club from an office, rather than coaching the teams as they do in this country, I can't see Pako doing that. He isn't the tactical coach that Rafa is. He's the fitness guru! I'd be very surprised if he and Rafa split up ( )

 

...can I borrow your crystal ball mate?

[Coyler]

 

It's interesting to look at those quotes from Pako in the light of the recent developments.

Aye. Seems to have quite the fondness for one of the two rumoured suitors.

[Walrus]

It's interesting to look at those quotes from Pako in the light of the recent developments.

 

Aye. Seems to have quite the fondness for one of the two rumoured suitors.

Exactly. Also, at the time I thought he was being very realistic with his views of the current squad, but maybe he was in fact a bit more on the side of pessimism. Or is this me being blinded by the good start we've enjoyed?

[Gomez]

It's interesting to look at those quotes from Pako in the light of the recent developments.

 

Aye. Seems to have quite the fondness for one of the two rumoured suitors.

 

But if he thinks man u are already doing things properly, why would they need him, and what would be challenge in going there?

 

Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up at chelski and the whole thing was down to a head-turning offer from them in the first place.