Q&A: Lindegaard Gets Set For Tour

As the Reds prepare for this summer's Tour 2014, presented by Aon, Anders Lindegaard talks to us about all aspects of pre-season training and the specific goalkeeping work he does to get ready for action...

When somebody says the word ‘pre-season’ to you, what springs to mind?
Hard work and excitement. It’s a period when you get back together with the guys and we’ve got a good locker room here, so it’s always something to look forward to. You also look forward to the pre-season tour and getting back in shape, even though it’s going to be painful and a lot of hard work; you look forward to getting back on the training pitch and playing football again. At the end of the day that’s what we all love to do.

What are the best and worst things about pre-season training?
I don’t really have a problem with all the running and the hard work but I think the worst thing about pre-season is the waiting time until the first proper game. You just want to get started again, you want to work hard all week to prepare yourself for that Saturday game, and I think that’s the hardest part about pre-season. It’s like one long window of waiting time until the season starts. The best thing about pre-season is just getting back playing football after the holiday. Getting on the pre-season tour is always a great experience with a lot of exciting things going on.

How important is it to maintain a decent standard of fitness during your summer holidays?
Very important. I guess as a top athlete today you have some kind of filter at the end, even though you probably allow yourself more things when you’re on holiday. You want to relax, you want to also mentally relax and switch your mind off from the focus you’ve been in for almost a whole year. For me personally, I guess I have some kind of filter that says, “Enough is enough”, in terms of diet. But I still live well and try and enjoy life a bit.

Sports science plays a big part in the game now and the data available to the coaching staff is vast – how important is that for a player’s development?
I think in terms of sports scientists we’ve really come a long way compared to five or 10 years ago. I think it’s a new area that’s been developing and it plays a bigger and bigger role in the players’ fitness. It’s a major deal in football these days and I think it will keep going like that, and just become more and more important.

As well as the physical preparations for the new season and games, how important is your mental preparation?
It’s very important. Playing football at this level, especially being a goalkeeper, is a mental state of mind. I think it’s important when you’re on holiday that you switch off completely and try not to think about it. You want to still try and keep in shape physically, but mentally you need to just switch off. But when you come back to work you have to get going again. You’ve got to get the right mindset in your head again.

We know you have a specific routine on matchdays when you’re getting ready for kick-off, but are you also one of those players who uses visualisation to prepare for games?
Yes I do. I think most goalkeepers use it because sometimes we’re not involved for long parts of a match and a big part of our job is not to make mistakes, and not to get surprised by anything that comes towards us. I truly believe that visualisation is a very, very important piece of work, something you can use to really improve that part of your game. I think it lowers the risk of making mistakes if you do it properly.