First off that is a loaded title and I will probably only scratch the surface on these subjects. After 10 man Leeds United's 2-1 win over Manchester City the usual stuff started floating around the internet. The "they are the fittest team in the league" or "the murderball sessions are the difference" and on the reverse when they lose all you hear is "they train too hard". In all honesty this type of talk drives me insane as it is an oversimplification of very complex processes and the work of revolutionary coaching staffs. The truth is Leeds looks fit because each player knows exactly what to do and when to do it. This is down to hours upon hours of coaching, video analysis, and training. Leeds United are at the top of all the GPS running charts because they never waste energy pressing or making wrong runs at the incorrect times. They are incredibly efficient and again this comes from all the work behind the scenes.
What is Murderball? Why Does it Work for Leeds United?
Let's take Murderball for instance. Murderball is an 11v11 game that Leeds United play usually on a Wednesday within their training week. The game resembles every aspect of a real match except as soon as a ball is out of bounds a coach plays another ball in without hesitation to keep the game going. Another difference is that coaches surround the pitch demanding intensity and effort at all times. These games can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes longer with as little as one bout or as high as 5, depending on what Bielsa is looking for.
Bielsa runs this exercise because he wants to deeply engrain habits into the players. By playing an intense, non stop game he creates opportunities for increased numbers of actions within a real game context. This means each player has to repeat actions at a higher rate than they would within a normal match. This is important to how Leeds play as Bielsa wants them to play at a very high intensity for 90 minutes. Please know that this is not a "fitness" exercise. It is an exercise to develop the player in every aspect (technical, tactical, physical, psychological) all simultaneously. This is important as players only truly get prepared within holistic exercises.
Technical - increase number of technical repetitions due to the constant nature of the game
Tactical - increased number of decisions due to the constant nature of the game
Physical - Overload as natural rest periods are eliminated and high effort is demanded
Psychological - Puts the players into very challenging situations due to fatigue and demands
Lastly, there a big component of this exercise is that creates an intensity that is higher than an actual match even though it is played in the same dimension and rules (except ball out of play). This helps prepare the team for any intensity of a match. It's important to highlight that these Murderball exercises only last a short period of time due to the intensity. The team could never maintain the needed quality for the normal duration of a match. The quality of play is paramount as Bielsa wants to train the correct habits. Once they fatigue to a certain degree the quality disappears and poor habits begin showing up.
So Can I Just Add Murderball to My Session? No!!!
Because it is talked about so often there are probably thousands of coaches all over the world penciling in this exercise into their weekly training schedule. Here are the problems with this haphazard approach.
Does your team have a clear understanding of your principles of play? If not then this is not going to be successful. Your exercise will look like a pick up game with a series of car crashes. It will be complete chaos and will only reinforce poor habits and decisions. Your team needs to at least have a basic understanding of their role with the four moments of the game in every area of the pitch. If they don't then you will only get a physical benefit which can only take you so far.
Do you understand the stress this puts on the players physically/psychologically? If you do not then you will either burn your players out or injure them as there is a good chance you over train them. This exercise increases the demands of the game through increased actions within a match like set up. This means more sprinting, more tackling, more change of direction. And the added psychological stresses this brings. Your team needs to be prepared in the right way to even attempt this with any quality.
This is not the magical exercise to make your players fit. It is one of many exercises used by Leeds United to improve performance. Do not solely rely on this or you will not be prepared to meet this demands of the game.
Does Isolated Running Have a Place in Training?
In this day an age where the game is becoming faster and more dependent upon quick intense actions, isolated running has an important role to play within the training process. I bring this up because of everything we covered within Bielsa's Murderball. This is one tool that Leeds use to prepare their players but also understand that this exercise still can't check every box needed. Let take for example a center back within this exercise. Even though the game is intense and challenging they may not every break into a sprint because of the nature of the position and what happened within the exercise. This means they need some additional isolated running to ensure they get the needed sprint exposure through the training week. We can watch with our eyes or monitor through GPS to know whether or not a player has achieved what they need through the training week. If they haven't then controlled isolated running bouts give them a greater chance of success in the match. This means mitigating injury likelihood and preparing for worst case scenarios that might not happen within training games.
In addition players who are not playing significant minutes need to try and simulate the demands of the match through different means of training exercises. If they can't get a training match then we need to supplement some isolated running to simulate those match demands (we never will but our hope is to get close as possible). If we do not do this then we set that player up for failure if they are called upon to start a match.
Isolated running has a place but needs to be well planned and individualized as much as possible. Do not just throw the team on a line and run a generic exercise. Asking a center back to do the same work as a winger is just lazy. Instead add some nuance to your isolated running. We can gain a better understanding of the true demands for each player by looking into what they actually do within a match or training. Then create isolated running that best prepares them for these demands.
But Tactical Periodization Says...
Everything that has been written above is my opinion and this next piece is definitely my opinion so disagree at will.
I love TP and 99% of Frade's philosophy in how to prepare a team for a match. I do believe that when it was developed the game was very very different and played by different types of players. I'm not saying these weren't great players or teams but the game was different. It was slower, less technical, more defensive in many countries. There was less tactical variation amongst teams. I bring this up because as the game evolves our philosophies need to evolve as well. Many coaches who work within this philosophy have done just that. They understand that isolated physical work plays an important role within team development. I have personally worked with a coach who over 5 years changed from not letting anyone do any isolated physical work (gym or field) to now implementing it within his actual sessions. This is how we evolve as coaches. As the saying goes "evolve or die" and the best coaches out there keep any open mind.
So How Do Players Get Fit?
First and foremost the majority of your training needs to resemble a real match. Murderball and isolated running have components of the match but do not simulate real match situations. They are options and tools that should be utilized if done in the correct way. The key is do not make them the foundation of your training process. I guarantee Bielsa doesn't or any other coach we are all trying to emulate. You truly get players fit through the simple means below. These are simple to understand but challenging to implement correctly. This comes form education and experience. Coaching will forever be an art.
Control Stress - This means knowing when to add stress or take stress away from the team. This doesn't mean physical stress, to the body stress is stress. It doesn't matter if its from running sprints or being ridiculed for their play.
Maintain Intensity - All sessions should be of the high intensity it doesn't matter what day of the week it is. You control the loading through the training variables.
Quality is always paramount - Every exercise should be done at the highest quality. This doesn't mean free from mistakes as those are learning opportunities It means the focus and effort are ever present. Once the quality drops we need to intervene through a rest or changes.
I hope the overriding theme of this ramble was that there are many ways to be successful. The key is to think deeply about what you are doing and why you are doing it. If you are just copying and pasting "murderball" into your training schedule then you will not be successful. Take into account your team and the constraints or variables at your club.
Thanks for the time and take care
Josh