[quote author="Carl Valle" date="1341428450"][quote author="Albert Naugle Gudiño" date="1341422775"]I don’t think you can boil down Spain’s absolute smashing of italy to an extra days rest.
Italy looked fatigued because Spain played their best game of the tournament. They let the ball
do the work instead of making long runs to no end. I call that being better at the game.
Possession statistics at the end of the first half were in fact quite even but italy wasn’t dangerous
in the attacking third like spain was. All in all I think it was a great lesson in football.
True, but note the blog entry talked about fatigue and it was cited they were tired BEFORE they played Spain. I didn’t boil it down just mentioned it as one element to look at Albert. Elitetrack has the tagline of sport training and conditioning, so rest is a discussion point that is relevant. If I said it was the decisive factor please quote the statement.[/quote]
Agreed, boil down wasn’t the proper wording. Certainly didn’t mean to take the post out of context. An extra days rest is clearly an advantage.
My point was simply that I believe Spain’s method is what brought them fresher to the final. So why was Italy fatigued before? The accumulation of games was the same for both teams and Spain had an extra 30 minutes of play against portugal in the semi’s. Not to mention PK’s.
So the injuries and fatigue could come from a multiple of factors, as you stated. My Opinion is that its in how they move the ball, which by the way is everything but boring.[/quote]
Those additional points are more than valid, as style of play (workload) is part of the minutes. Also each player is coming into national camp from various teams and leagues, making the job of a fitness coach very demanding.
I don’t agree with the information provided 100%, but the point of the article does make a lot of sense to me.