Tottenham are Back in Barcelona for a Mid-season Training Session
Assistant manager Jesús Pérez spoke to Tottenham’s official website to discuss why the north London club are back in Barcelona for the second time.
Around the same time last season, Tottenham made the trip to Barcelona for a mid-season training session.
Instead of practicing at their state-of-the-art training facility in Enfield, Mauricio Pochettino organized a group bonding session by taking his team and staff to Spain.
It appeared to work as Spurs managed to earn their highest-ever finish in Premier League history by finishing in third place.
They would also be challenging Leicester City for the league title before a 2-2 draw with Chelsea away officially knocked them out of contention.
With Tottenham set to host League Two’s Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup’s fourth round this Saturday, Spurs have decided to once again make the trek back to Spain to train.
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And here to discuss why the north London are back in Barcelona for a second time is assistant manager Jesús Pérez.
“Last season we had a great experience here as a team and the players wanted to repeat the same training camp,” Pérez said.
“Thankfully, the fixtures allowed us to come here after the Manchester City game. It’s good to change [the] routine, to stay together in a nice city and to share time together as a group.”
If the players liked the change of pace last year then it makes sense to repeat it once again. Which is what Pérez goes into more detail about.
“We’ve played so many matches so far and it’s the same – a lot of training, a lot of the same routines – and the players deserve a bit of a break.” Jesús Pérez continued.
“Of course, we are training here, so we’re not on holiday, but they have time to be together as a group, to go shopping, to walk around, to have different meals, a change from the normal habits in London.”
“It’s good as a group and I think it will be a fantastic experience again.”
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Following a 2-2 draw against Manchester City, where Spurs’ six-match unbeaten run was snapped, there was a sense of pride in the fact that the players fought hard to turn a losing situation into a positive one by earning a massive point.
The mood wasn’t one of disappointment — although Eric Dier expressed some mixed feelings — but Jesús Pérez repeated what Mauricio Pochettino mentioned in his post-match comments.
That Tottenham showing character and resilience is a style and philosophy of this young team.
“As Mauricio always explains, game by game we want to be better as a group and as a team and sometimes you cannot play your best because the opponent has the same quality.” Pérez began.
“The most important thing is the character and resilience to play in our way until the final whistle. This is why the team came back [against Man City]. This is a clear style and philosophy.”
By the time the week wraps up prior to Saturday’s cup fixture, Tottenham will hopefully have gotten another good mid-season training session completed that will see another title push for Spurs during the coming months.
That is what Jesús Pérez and especially Mauricio Pochettino hopes to achieve during this week.
“The most important thing is to provide the players with a little rest, not physical rest, but mental rest, so they can do activities here together.” Pérez added.
“In London it’s difficult because everyone lives in a different place and sometimes it’s not easy to stay three or four days between matches, especially when you are in an English team.”
“This is more of a European team idea, they have periods like this to do different activities. So that’s most important and on Thursday, we’re back to normal, back at the training centre to prepare for the FA Cup as normal.”
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For any team, especially ones that have title aspirations, having a group bonding session away from your comfort zone — in this case, training in another country for a couple of days — can bring a team together and achieve some good things.
It worked last year as mentioned up top. So if it happens again when Spurs are challenging for another title, why not continue training in Barcelona every January when there’s a break and make this a normal routine?