Day four in Herzlake: Pushing the limits one more time

On Monday (August 10th), the squad worked up a sweat to end the short training camp in Herzlake. The training plan for the day simply told the players to bring their running trainers. Schalke’s new head of performance, Werner Leuthard, had marked out a 500m course to be completed in small groups. Players ran the course ten times each, and always at a high intensity.

Even those who featured in yesterday’s 5-1 friendly win against VfL Osnabrück were back in training this morning. The players were vocal in their encouragement of each other, and they pushed themselves on to perform at their best. Even Werner Leuthard was satisfied – shouts of praise could be heard throughout the session. After the seventh round, the 58-year-old offered the players a deal: two more laps of maximum effort and they could finish one round early. The players didn’t need a second invitation and pushed themselves right to the very limit once again.

No success without hard work

Benjamin Stambouli is enjoying working with Leuthard: “Werner is great,” said the Frenchman. “He’s really clever, with a lot of experience, and he knows his job inside out. As a player, I am really happy to have somebody who will help me to reach the next level – he is somebody who can help me do that. There is no success without hard work.”

On Tuesday (August 11th) the players will have time to rest and recharge following the four intense days in Herzlake. After this the players will train twice each day before facing their next friendly test, against third tier opponents SC Verl. More detailed information about this match will be released in the coming days on schalke04.de.