David Wagner will get Norwich City fighting fit to hunt down Championship rivals.
The new Canaries’ boss was officially unveiled on Monday at Carrow Road after taking charge of a 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Blackburn at the weekend.
Wagner’s ‘full throttle’ football is built on physical power and peak conditioning – and the City head coach conceded there is work to do in that area.
The German offered a candid response when pressed for his impressions on the current fitness levels.
“I wouldn't say it's very difficult to work on that. But I would say there is work to do,” he said. “I have a big, big trust in my performance department. I worked with John Iga before, Glyn (Lewis) is top class (head of physical performance).
"This is what I can say after only four days or five days, and all the conversations I had with him. I've a big trust in my performance department.
“With our support they will make sure that this group is quick at adapting to the style of football, and to the fitness which they need to play our style. I have seen the statistics from Sunday, regarding what the players delivered, and it was on a different level to the previous games, which is a good sign.
"But it doesn't help when you have to recover for four days. Sometimes you have to deliver this for three games in a week. This is what we must work on. So not very difficult, but there's some work to do.
“What immediately came to my eyes since I was last in the Championship is that now nearly half of the teams play with three in the backline, or five in the backline. This was not the case when I was last in this league.
"But apart from this, to be totally honest, I think the magic of the Championship is that there are so many games so when you can get on a positive run, everything looks great. But if you are on a negative run everything looks not so great. And with so many games thick and fast, you have to make sure that you are the fittest team in the division. I think this helps massively.
"Obviously, injury wise if you are in a good place, and you have a squad with a certain depth, this helps you as well.”
Wagner is the second product of Borussia Dortmund’s II team to try their luck at Carrow Road under Stuart Webber after Daniel Farke.
The 51-year-old insisted he was not fazed by trying to emulate the hugely popular double title-winning boss, when he signed his 12-month rolling contract.
"When I've chosen this football club, or this option, that didn't play a role,” said Wagner. “Obviously he has done great for this football club, he had unbelievable success. And I wish him all the best at Borussia Monchengladbach.
"But even if he would not have been the manager of this football club, and I would get offered this job, I would have taken it.
“To be fair, the contract situation was never a big discussion for me. I was very keen to come back to English football, and to football club who can deliver me something where I think we can be successful together.
"This is exactly the case in Norwich. I think there are a lot of good things in place.
“I mean the squad, the environment with the training facility, the stadium, the support we have and obviously how the club is set up in general; who makes decisions and how quickly you can make those. That is down to Stuart and the board and it is unusual in English football. This was enough for me to really take this opportunity.”
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