This was the very clear message from Fernando Falle at this weekends coaching course at Buckmore Park.
Fernando is the professional coach to Club Infante Sagres, one of the top ten teams in the World. He brought his team over to Buckmore and they gave superb demonstrations of top class roller hockey as they cruised past four English squads pitted against them, including the Senior and Junior National squads.
Of course his team are professionals that train 4 hours a day, every day and it shows. Not just in the skills and fitness, but also in the strategy and tactics.
Working with a number of eager to learn English coaches Fernado explained, and then his team demonstrated, how easy it is to penetrate and demolish a box defence. “Players should play man-to-man from their earliest involvement in the sport” he said “The box is a negative strategy employed usually by tired, inferior teams. In England you need to use man-to-man much more as part of getting fitter, faster, better.”
There were many more messages from Fernando who openly shared many secrets of his club’s success. The coaches went away enthused - all this from a man who had been truly dropped in it at the deep end having been called upon with only a day’s notice to replace Professor Luis Gouveia who’s wife had unfortunately been taken ill.
Thanks Fernando, some of us will be pestering you further!
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Reporter: Kos Galtos
