Oliver Khan Gives a Window View of His Training Session

While some spectators may be privy to Khan’s mouth being loaded and ready to pan out some pain on coaches and team mates (read Jens Lehmann) alike, many would not disregard his goalkeeping ability for one instant. I’m on the same boat as many goalkeepers of my own generation, and have huge amounts of respect for Khan as both a goalkeeper and football personality. Scoping You Tube today I found this recent video of Khan in training, and whilst the dialog is German, it does give a great view into what a good training session consists of and the legacy of Khan’s goalkeeping ability.

Some points of discussion come up from the above video:

• Simple Sessions = Success: That ryhmed pretty well…but what we can see from goalkeeper trainer Sepp Maier is a very straight forward training session that comprises of a general warm up that focuses on basic technique. Maier then pushes on with some more dynamic sessions, but the key focus is always on basic technique throughout.

• Repetition Without Monotony: Nothing is worse than prolonged training sessions without constant diversity in the training prescription. While the session does not need to do anything fancy or overly ridiculous, it should aim at providing repetition with a focus on constant progression of intensity throughout the training year. What we don’t want to do is make a goalkeeper feel like they are bored and de-motivated because every session is the same.

• Get It Off You Chest: There is no doubt that the camaraderie between Maier and Khan is strong. Having a great mentor as a goalkeeper coach is vital, and because of the heavy mental pressure a goalkeeper faces, there is always a constant need for open dialog between the goalkeeper and trainer. I’ve had some brilliant mentors in my time, whom always remained friends, and were there to be called on, even when we had parted ways from various clubs.