Schalke Sunday

Slept in and then headed to watch the 9s play followed by Jack's last training. Squeezed in 11k with 10 strides in the spiritual 74 stadium running the lengths on each side.  The stadium is steeped in history and made sure I partly ran on the grass. It's surreal as the stadium steps are still there but overall the ground is dilapidated. The grass is still though 'Wembley' standard immaculate.

The great Jairzihno scored here for Brazil in that world cup and Yugoslavia put 9 past Zaire.  Cruyff also scored that famous double versus Argentina with the Dutch playing their infamous 'Total football'. Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd and the Stones have all played at the stadium as well. The stadium has real presence and I could sense it. 

The first 4 pics below are of the famous Parkstadium. Pics then of the run around the Gelsenkirchen countryside (there is Schalke graffiti everywhere), the Schalke pitch which is rolled out of the stadium after every game, the VW front page news re their diesel fiasco and then the final training session.

After the final training with Sam we made our way to the airport with Jack kitted out in his Schalke tracksuit. 

Whatever happens from here with his footie he will never forget the experience.

If only we lived in Germany

The Schalke bubble is coming to an end but we have delayed our flight back to London until tomorrow evening. This way Jack can squeeze in one more session tomorrow afternoon.

Jack had no training today and was fatigued which given the double sessions over the last week is hardly surprising. In the late morning we walked down to see his age group play Rot Weiß Essen.  The game was frenetic from the off. The speed is the one thing which I will take away from this trip. All the boys are lightening quick and seem to be constantly on the move. They are litrerally panting for the entire game. The coaches immediately sream when they don't track back. Ozil junior was again running the show in midfield with Schalke running out 2-0 winners.

Late morning we took the Straßenbahn to Gelsenkirchen which is hardcore working class Germany. It got annihilated in the 2nd world war and is grim. It's noticeable the number of poor people on the streets and are possibly some of the refugee contingency. It's hard to tell.

At lunch I headed out around the Schalke grounds and was struggling with heavy legs after a fair bit of running for me this week. Started sluggishly starting with a 4.45 first k but then knocked out 7ks averaging 3.50s including a 19min 5k. I stopped the clock and took a 3 min rest and then jogged around watching the 15s taking on Bayer Leverkusen for another 7ks to get me to 15 all up.

In the afternoon we did not move from the hotel enjoying the autumn sunshine.

My cousin Florian joined us for dinner in the evening. Nice catching up with him.

Some more pics from the week and the day:

Schalke Friday

Lazy morning with a little recovery jog at 4.40 pace covering 9kms.

This afternoon was Jack's last real training session. And it was a monster 2.5hrs. After the steps session yesterday evening he was already feeling tired.

The session was with the U12s and Ozil's nephew. He is a spitting image of his uncle and I told him so in German when he shook my hand at the start. As I have said previously it is mandatory for all the boys to greet the parents.

The session started with a series of ladders with complicated in out repetitions, followed by sprint, cartwheel another sprint then close control dribbling and pass completion accuracy. Again they were going for a good 20 mins.

Then followed a game using something resembling a rugby ball. I guess the theory being that when you have a round ball it gets a lot easier. The coaches then swapped to a round ball. Jack did well and often came up 1 v 1 with Ozil.

When the 12s were done Jack then dropped to the 11s session who were in the midst of a shooting game (it doesn't matter what it is there is always a score and competition - more game simulation). They then started a game and by that time Jack was tired and I could tell. Have to say both the U11s and 12s are shit hot!

We may come back on Sunday but this was most likely the last session. If Jack was not fit before we came he certainly is now. Still not quite sure how he got through the stairs session yesterday.

Views from the hotel room this evening over looking the Schalke Arena.

Schalke day 4

Ran the treadmill for 15km again @4minkms and then spent the day on the laptop working.

Jack had another great day with training in the morning including fitness test (don't have the results yet) and then training with the 13s in the old WC stadium in the afternoon.

At training we bumped into last night's hero Leroy Sane, superstar in the making. 

Caught up with the academy head who provided candid feedback - all good. With the concentrated competition of this past 12 months in London there has been large improvements. 

Pics are from the Schalke complex from the hotel room incl the new stadium and you can see the famous old 74 WC stadium steps which Jack had to run up and down for the best part of 90 minutes.

Schalke day 3 - game day

Today was the best so far. Ran on the treadmill at c.3.55s for 15km and then saw Jack train indoors including his beep test (they are massive into agility and strength here - in fact the whole ethos of Schalke is underpinned by hard work).  It is the working man's club from the coal mining era.

More themes came out today why Schalke is so successful in generating players:

1. They work harder - fitness is key
2. They replicate game situations as much as possible, creating pressure (not the other way)
3. The Ruhr Gebiet (or the 'Pot') is home to so many football teams: Dortmond, Leverkusen, Bochum, Köln etc which means that the academy teams play quality opposition every week. Most of the Germans national players come from this area for this reason.

After lunch Sam took us on the stadium tour follow by more training and then the game vs Frankfurt (where Jack was born) in the full 60k+ stadium with the roof on. I hate to say it but the atmosphere was even better than at Selhurst and the Nord Kurve were unbelievable. A great game with Schalke winning 2 0 with Leroy Sane the new starlet scoring the second right in front of us. This club is something else.  I serously recommend seeing a game here. The Nord Kurve (stand) has 25k just behind one goal and they continually jump up and down through the game.