Smalling's Training Secrets

With the summer holidays now over for the Reds, the players have gradually begun to return to training ahead of the new campaign. Before he left for his post-season break, Chris Smalling gave us an insight into training preparations for 2015/16, which will include Tour 2015, presented by Aon, and who he believes to be the squad's fastest player...

What immediately springs to mind when someone asks you about pre-season?
Hard work! It’s important to hit the ground running during pre-season because you don’t get those weeks back – they are crucial. You need to make sure that you’re up to speed come the start of the season.

From a player’s perspective, what does a good pre-season involve?
It’s all about getting your fitness up. Of course we go on tour and that means experiencing different countries, different occasions and lots of hard work. Winning games in pre-season always helps going into the start of the season and that’s our aim.

What specific things are you working on as a group and what do you personally work on when you come back for pre-season?
We’ll do some group things and fitness work, then we all break off into different categories where you can focus on your particular area of the team [defender, midfielder, striker].

How important are the tours for new players settling in and younger lads trying to make an impression on the manager?
They’re crucial because you’re spending 24 hours a day together and not just a morning and afternoon at the training ground. Being able to eat together and spend your free time with the new players and the younger ones is really important in helping them settle in.

How would describe the facilities in the States?
The facilities they’ve got out there are unbelievable. The teams they cater for have such huge numbers meaning it’s a perfect place for us to prepare.

What are your favourite memories from past tours there?
One of them has to be when we went to Washington DC last year and visited the White House – that was a brilliant experience. We got a brief glimpse of President Obama too which was terrific. I’ll always remember my first tour when we went to Chicago and how hot it was – that always sticks in my mind.

How would you describe the support you get from fans in the States?
The fans are phenomenal. This will be my third visit to the States and the difference between the number of fans on my first and second visits was crazy. We have brilliant support out there.