It is one thing to recruit athletic players, it is another thing to mentally know how to push your body to the edge to gain an advantage. That is what sets Bournemouth under Andoni Iraola apart from the rest of the Premier League.

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was asked by Ben Fisher for the Guardian, how important is athleticism to implementing his style:

It is key because we try to play with a fast rhythm. We don’t want the games to stop, and you don’t have time to recover. I always say, ‘You have to ask for the ball when you’re tired.’ If you are waiting to rest before asking again for the ball or making the run into space, everyone can do this. But you are a Premier League player, and if you are tired, this is the moment you have to push the opposition, when they are also tired, and try to break them. To do that, you have to be at your best physically.

The human body can be pushed much further than you would think. Training the mind to push past that pain threshold gives those players an edge. Those Bournemouth players probably get excited when they get tired, because that will normally mean the opponent is just as tired, if not more, than them.

Featured image credit to Bournemouth