Training Wednesday 14/4

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Back at Carrington after 2 days off!!! Great day as I was joined by Dazby,john68 and Walshaw Blue as training newbies plus Johnny Crossan and wife Anne as regulars but then we had the disappointment that the majority of the training was behind the fence and the warm ups right across the other side of the pitch.

Missing today were still Petrov,Taylor,Lescott,M Johnson,Richards and AJ.The latter did eventually come out but wasn't taking a full part.I think the doc had a special word with Mancini to agree what level of work he would do. Seems he isn't 100% at the mo but I doubt there is a worry for Saturday.RSC did take part in the first half of the tarining but then went in as he played 60 minutes for the reserves last night.

Nothing to say about the initial warm ups in the distance but as they came a little closer they split into 3 groups.The strikers just doing some sharp fitness exercises , the midfielders working with Carminati and just running around with a ball each. He was timing all their movement and giving the nod went to increase the pace or not.Mancini meanwhile was working closely with the defenders. He brought in 4 reserves and had them passing the ball along the backline focussing on the defensive shape and movements all the time and then occasionally hitting a longer ball behind the defence to make them turn. During this we had 2 central defenders but two right and 2 left full backs.After a while he withdrew Bridge and Ned and just worked with Zaba and Garrido.

After 10 or 15 minutes of this the groups switched around so that Mancini could work with the attacking group. Just routine pass and move stuff finishing with a cross and shot. Nothing spectacular at all and when this ended it was over to the middle pitch for a finishing 8 a side on about a half pitch.This game was probably most notable for Barry's contribution.Early on his team felkl behind and the opposition keeper , Neilsen looked in good form but then Gazza took over.

First of all he set up Ade with some superb footwork and a nutmeg pass. Ade's finish was a nonchalent outside of the foot flick.The he was on hand to finish off abll which hit the post from Ade I think before finally he was at the back post for a flying header. He did score a hat trick and all this in a just a few minutes.MotM for certain.

Stevie looked fully fit today as did Vieira so apart from maybe AJ it's over to Mancini to decide how he wants to play on Saturday and with which players.

In the early part of the session today we had an extra look at the keepers in action and I hope there will be a special training report appearing later from that well known international keeper Dazby.

[Manx Blue]

Nice work as always DH....I'm looking forward to Dazby's Snippets

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Cheers for that Doug, top report as always.

[dazby]

Right then, firstly let me comment my surprise at how far out of town Carrington is. Felt a bit weird but fun all the same. Secondly, let me inform those that havent been to a session that Doug really undergoes some hardship to do what he does. It's not a case of show up and watch. The view is interrupted, it's cold and uncomfortable and my respect levels for Doug and NMT (from Bluemoon) have skyrocketed. Every thanks he gets is totally deserved.

Right, so what did I see. I focussed on the keepers today seeing as i am one. Mr Taylor is not available at the moment so it's a choice of Shay, Gunnar and the new boy Loris. On Monday at the club I heard great reviews about Lorik which were confirmed at the Reserves game. However, as the three keepers were being put through their paces it was clearly obvious that the hierachy of quality was well in place. Shay has so much more time, his footwork is superior, his positioning is better, his reflexes are better. He's clearly a class above. Despite that, he wasn't having the best of days with his hands as he fumbled a lot of saves.

Gunnar showed some class making some fine saves from shots being fired in from the reserves. Lorik however, had a struggle on his hands as his footwork and technique were being shown up by the pace of the shots. I was enjoying this as it was a great learning opportunity to get some tips from Massimo the goalkeeping coach. However, I'm not sure the message was getting through. Massimo seemed to be telling him to get closer to the person taking the shot. He'd then get Shay to demonstrate what he was trying to say. Imagine his horror as Shay took up a position deeper than Lorik!!

It seemed that I enjoyed Massimo's session more than the keepers. They just don't seem to get his humour. I thought he was very amusing, but the keepers weren't laughing. I'll put it down to the keepers focussing on the task at hand.

The highlight of the session was a drill where Massimo would throw a ball to the reserve players to volley a shot for the keeper to save. New reserves sub Chris Chantler was on fire beating Gunnar 3 times in a row with the sweetest shots you would ever see, causing great consternation for Gunnar. It was fourth time lucky for our Faroe Islands keeper as he finally kept one out. I started the applause to which the others joined in, my moment of session. hehe. Gunnar acknowledged my support and he got the thumbs up. Despite those wonderstrikes he had a very good session making some quality saves.

It was great to be there. Great to hear Bellers swear after a missed shot. Great to see Ade and his laconic style. Great to see just how hands on Mancio is with the group. Great to stand next to the photographer from the papers trying to get the perfect shot of Carlos to match whatever headline they will come up with. If you get the chance, do join Doug for a session. Be respectful and love it. You might even learn something.

[brite blu sky]

great report Doug...

oh and the new lad good first attempt that

[john68]

My 1st time at Carrington since the keegan era and I have to say I was very disappointed. Under the old regime, you waited at the side gate which was opened by a steward and fans were allowed in to spectate froma repectful distance.
Today that bloody fence blocks the view of almost everything and is a bloody hindrance. I understand why but it pissed me off.
Douglas only looks old...:-) and equipped with his wife's kitchen steps, gives a good impression of a nosey neighbour, prying into the next garden...:-)...Sorry mate.
It really is about time the club gave Douglas his pass.

As for it being cold, Dazzler, you are a soft Aussie tart...It was a lovely sunny Manchester day with a refreshing cooling breeze.

Thanks for the reports though as I missed most of what went on behind the fence due to me being dignified...:-)

[Crossie]

Great to hear a few different reports on the same day.

Was Tevez out training and how was the body language?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Great to hear a few different reports on the same day.

Was Tevez out training and how was the body language?

Yes Tevez was there. He sloped out at the start as if he didn't really want to be there , ignored every instruction he was given by all the coaches and generally didn't get involved and ran around as little as possible.

Th reality was that he did slope out initially although he was one of the first out but that's very normal for him. He just looks like a scruffy little lad wandering onto a field but he looked well up for the whole session.He has developed into one of the guys who brings a bit of fun to the training and at one point I saw the doc chasing him around which was pretty funny bearing in mind how non athletic the doc is. I just wish I had seen what Carlos had to done to provoke him. From everything I see I don't think there is the slightest problem with him.

[dazby]

Interesting that the photographer that was there only took shots of Tevez but none of them made today's paper. It was a different shot.