Lions do extra tactical work before training sessions
Sundram focuses on two divisions before training session proper
He kicked off training with the Lions on Saturday, and over the next two days, newly-appointed national coach V Sundramoorthy made the unusual call for two departments of his squad to come in an hour ahead of each scheduled session, which lasts between 90 minutes and two hours.
He started with the defenders on Sunday, and yesterday, Sundram worked early specifically with the midfielders and strikers at the Geylang Field.
After conducting tactical and positional drills, he explained why he required the extra work.
"We are actually preparing for the Suzuki Cup (in November)," Sundram told The New Paper.
"Because of the lack of time, we are getting the players to come in and do the extra tactical work so that they know what we want from them on the pitch.
"Players understand that we started this for the game that we have in Myanmar, As you know last Friday was the press conference and Saturday was my first session with them so we are really lacking time."
Sundram's first assignment with the Lions comes in a friendly international quadrangular in Myanmar from Friday to Monday.
The four teams in the mix are Vietnam, Hong Kong, the hosts and Singapore.
The Lions, who leave for Myanmar on Wednesday, will take on the hosts on Friday while Vietnam and Hong Kong meet in the other tie, with the two winners moving into the final while the other two teams play-off for third on Monday.
With busy club commitments, Sundram said he plans to do more such focused training sessions down the road.
It starts off with basic drills focusing on a player's positioning.
Last Sunday, the defenders also worked on drills that were targeted at their transition from defence to attack.
A day later, the forwards focused on set-pieces that required them to provide realistic options that they can incorporate into matches.
During their breaks, the players were all smiles as they played a friendly game of one-touch.
"For footballers, when they are on the pitch and the ball is moving and they are scoring goals, they are enjoying training and that's what's important," said Sundram, who was unveiled as the new coach last Friday - the first local to hold the post in 16 years.
"If you tell them to go MacRitchie Reservoir and run 10 kilometres, that's going to be a problem.
"With the national team we will try to do it more frequently. We have our Mondays and in-camp training sessions but we will do what is needed along the way."
Sundram's predecessor, Bernd Stange, made the call that each Monday will be allocated for a national team get-together.
Among the 12 who were in early yesterday were Tampines Rovers midfielders Yasir Hanapi and Izzdin Shafiq, Geylang International winger Gabriel Quak and Johor Darul Ta'zim (II) forward Shahril Ishak.
"He (Sundram) wants to achieve results and he knows what we're capable of," said Izzdin, 25.
"We have never done this before and it is beneficial for us as we are not able to purely focus on our specific roles in a day's training. For today, we just focused on positioning and providing options."
Club mate Hafiz Abu Sujad, a defender who came in early last Sunday, was game to put in an extra hour of work.
"It's better for the defenders and attackers to have specific training so that we can improve better," he said.
"Sundram wants to work on specific aspects of the game... It was a short session with mild intensity where we brushed up on certain things like how to attack when with the ball and how to defend when we lose it."
Watch national football teams on Eleven
Eleven Sports Network is pushing out a seven-day free trial from today for its new online streaming service and app for fans to catch the Singapore senior and Under-21 football teams in action this week.
The Lions will play at the Aya Bank Cup under new national coach V Sundramoorthy. They take on hosts Myanmar on Friday, with the winners meeting either Hong Kong or Vietnam in the final on Monday.
Singapore's U-21s will be in action at the inaugural Nations Cup in Malacca. The Young Lions face Malaysia on Friday and either Thailand or Vietnam on Sunday.
The matches are available exclusively on Eleven (Singtel TV Ch 109) and Eleven Sports (Ch 110), or via the new streaming service at www.elevensports.sg, or on the app. The seven-day trial is limited to only the online streaming and app, which can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store.
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