Copenhagen players return to training

The FC Copenhagen squad returned to training yesterday ahead of the new Alka Superliga season.

Less than a month since the end of the last campaign, the players reconvened at Number 10 after an usually short summer break.

And FCK.dk caught up with coach Anders Storskov for an insight into the squad’s new regime.

- Our preparations this year are quite different to what we usually do. On the one hand, it is only 18 days since we played the last game of the Alka Superliga and we also have a number of international players away, while Christoffer Remmer and Ludwig Augustinsson are competing in the European U21 Championships in Czech Republic, Storskov said.

International players will return to training on Tuesday 30 June and Remmer and Augustinsson on 3 July, when the squad travels to its training camp in Austria.

- It offers some challenges, although we basically always train the same way all year round. But this year will start differently, because the players are at different levels. In addition to the national team players we have, some are returning from injuries, so there are several considerations to take when training is to be allocated, added Storskov.

- Usually we have always started with a match against a first division team, where every player gets a half each, but this year we only have two friendly matches during our trip to Austria. Of course, we could play a match before we go but the players simply would not get enough benefit from it. They must be prepared for a certain level and there is not enough time. Therefore, it is not even certain that all will be ready for the first of two friendly matches in Austria.

Yesterday the players endured ‘The heart rate drop test’, i.e. how quickly the heart rate drops after a physical activity. It indicates the level individual players are physically and the test also provides Storskov and the rest of the coaching staff the opportunity to learn facets of the new players even better.