Danny Murphy is an example of a player who takes his conditioning very serious; even at 34 he is the midfield maestro of a top 10 Premier League side and puts in the effort consistently. Today he’s spoken to the official website on the importance of mainting his fitness over the course of the whole season:
“Last season I think I just missed one game. Of course when you stay fit and you don’t get any niggles, you can maintain a good level of fitness and you feel like you can play on and on, but you need that little bit of luck whatever age you are.
“You kind of look after yourself individually and make sure you’re as fit as you can be. They say as you get older you look after yourself better and it’s true. Everybody is so fit and athletic but I feel good and I’m trying to make sure I don’t hit my peak too soon as we’re only in July.”
He talks about the early start too and how it could affect us:
“I think it worked out that those of us that didn’t have international matches had four weeks off, which is still a decent break. It’s not ideal but it’s a good break. Some of the lads who are playing international football go 11 months playing three games a week and still kick on.
“Of course you have good and bad spells but you do need that bit of luck when the games are coming thick and fast, especially around Christmas time. There is no way anybody is going to be able to play all the games this season, especially in midfield. It’s going to be a case of being pulled out at the right time and that’s going to have to be the Manager’s decision. Theoretically we should be firing on all cylinders at the start of the Premier League season.”
Every season we’re convinced that it’s his last but I’ve given up on him giving up for a couple of years yet. He will still have a valuable role to play and I love watching him so long may it continue.
