Dortmund holt Klinsmanns Fitness-Guru
Former national coach Jürgen Klinsmann (left) in May 2006 with his fitness trainers, Shad Forsythe is standing directly behind him
Source: pa/dpa/dpaweb/Oliver Berg
The management of Borussia Dortmund had announced that they would carry out a comprehensive analysis after the disillusionment of the past season. Among other things, it should be explored why the team had to complain about so many injuries. A luminary comes to remedy the situation.
Borussia Dortmund scores really badly on one point. Last season, the team had a total of 2,935 injury days to compensate. This is the result of statistics from the website fussball Hurungen.de. Every BVB player was therefore out for an average of 86.32 days, and no Bundesliga team was hit harder. VfB Stuttgart is in 17th place (average 77.81 days), while Union Berlin did best in this category (26, 17 days).
The Dortmund team has been dealing with the problem of the large number of muscular injuries for months. Even during the winter break, BVB was the club with by far the most injuries of any Bundesliga team. Halfway through the season, Dortmund had already accumulated 1,715 days lost by their players – i.e. days on which BVB professionals were unable to train or play due to injuries. At the beginning of March, the 2000 mark was even exceeded.
The questions that came up were: Is it just bad luck or does it have structural causes? Are mistakes made in the training control or in the medical care? Sports director Sebastian Kehl had already announced a comprehensive analysis of the problem in April.
BVB access was an important factor in the 2014 World Cup triumph
As a result, it can now be seen that Borussia has agreed on a commitment with fitness coach Shad Forsythe on July 1st. The 49-year-old, who according to information from BILD will be the “Head of Performance”, has also been in charge of the German national soccer team since 2004. Brought to the DFB by Jürgen Klinsmann, the American was considered an important factor in the 2014 World Cup triumph. He then moved to Arsenal, but continues to work for the DFB. He is currently listed as a “Special Coach”. In 1999 he became a physiotherapist at the USA Olympic Training Center and since then he has had a good reputation and is now considered a luminary in the industry. The sports stars worship him as a fitness guru.
“We are very happy that we were able to convince Shad of Borussia Dortmund and our path,” Kehl confirmed to BILD: “With his great expertise and experience, he will be an absolute asset to us.”
