Expert Speaks

Kick-start with the coach!

Werner Martens, the Football Fitness Coach of Kerala Blasters, shares the nuances of training football players at a time when the game has evolved into a high-intensity sport over the years

Fatigue is the biggest enemy of a player. That’s what Werner Martens, Football Fitness Coach of Kerala Blasters team, tells the players on and off the field. Kerala Blasters is an Indian professional football club based in the southern state of Kerala. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top tier of football in India. For Werner, Communication is the key to prevent injuries.

“As a fitness coach, I believe the players must have unhindered communication with the coach and medical staff. That’s why the role of a fitness coach is so crucial. Every morning, I meet the players with a set of questionnaires to know whether they have any kind of pain, injury or if they had adequate sleep last night,”says Martens, while explaining the role of a fitness coach.

Martens, who holds a UEFA-A license (UEFA coaching license are documents testifying credentials of coaches among members of UEFA, which is the governing body for football in Europe) started his career at the age of 17. He embarked on the journey of being a football coach from his native village by offering his professional services to young teams. At the age of 25, he went on to coach players of a U-17 team of the third level in Belgium for a year. Thereafter, he moved on to a second division professional club in Belgium. He was the coach for U-19 and U-17 teams there. At this point, Martens asked himself an important question: “Do I have the managerial skill to take my career to the next level?” And, he started following the local coaches in Belgium. Simultaneously, he started visiting different clubs from other countries in his pursuit to achieve success as a performance coach.

He managed to gather a wealth of experience. He worked in the premier divisions of Belgium, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia. Some of the teams that he had worked with include AS Trencin, Sporting Club Lokeren, VVV-Venlo, Beerschot, Willem II, Lommel SK and Waasland-Beveren. The 40-year-old now has a UEFA-A Licence that allows him to be assistant coach at professional level.

In his career span of over 10 years, Martens has witnessed significant changes in the way soccer is played these days.  “The speeds of the game and the sprinting have become faster. It has become a high intensity game. We have to be top fit to play 90 minutes on a high tempo,” says Martens, who advocates the need to upgrade the coaching techniques to match –up the increased pace of the game nowadays.

To all his team players, Martens says: “Fitness is not the starting point, it has to be football—the game itself!”  He also insists that communication is of the highest order in a soccer match. “Communication between the players on the pitch is significant. So, always level-up the communication between the players. For example, a striker must have proper communication with the middle players or defence players. The second important aspect is learning the art of decision-making on the pitch. In a nutshell, to be able to communicate with the players, make decisions and execute those decisions on the field in 90 minutes, you need to have football fitness. And, that’s where my role comes in as I train them on football fitness,” says Martens, while explaining his training philosophy. What’s the most challenging aspect of his role? Well, he says: “I need to keep players both fit and fresh for the game because remember accumulation of fatigue can lead to injuries.”

When it comes to prevention of injuries, Martens says he follows certain principles. “For example, one principle states that after a game, we give two days for recovery. Before the game, as per the principle number 2, we have two tactical training sessions. If we have a long week, we have two days of loading. We adapt our programme as per game schedule. In the beginning of the series, we conduct a screening for the players to spot the injuries and make their individual profile. They undergo their individual training. First we fix the weakness of the body. Also, they are trained on injury prevention,” he adds.

Words of wisdom

Catch good sleep and take care of your body

Eat healthy

Practice your prevention exercises

Use all the recovery protocols, Ice-bath, massage and treatments