Ryan Conway has revealed that Derby County tried to emulate Leeds United’s ‘high-press’ and ‘intense’ style of play during the pre-season, leaving the players exhausted going into the start of the campaign.
Derby County’s Championship survival went down to the final day of the season. They welcomed Sheffield Wednesday and gave viewers a day to remember – the game finished 3-3, confirming Derby’s Championship status beyond this season and subjecting Wednesday to relegation.
Fans will be delighted to see the back of this season. Reports though have since emerged claiming that Derby County face a ‘massive’ points deduction going into next season, owing to misspending over the past few seasons.
READ: Derby County face ‘massive’ points deduction going into next season
But The Athletic’s Derby County correspondent Conway has revealed something really interesting – he writes how Phillip Cocu was impressed by the likes of Leeds and Brentford towards the end of last season, and wanted to emulate their style of play going into this campaign.
Given what is now two amended seasons in-a-row, Cocu crammed in a pre-season with high-intensity training and Conway explains how ‘some’ of the Derby County squad felt it was necessary. He wrote:
“Derby welcomed Brentford and Leeds United to Pride Park in July…Some players looked like they had three hours of sleep. But they still taught Cocu’s side a lesson.
“Leeds’ plan was simple: the high pressing, the intense running, the rapid-fire attacks and lightning-fast counters. Derby’s coaches were impressed and decided that was going to be the 2020-21 version of Derby, and thus pre-season had to be tailored accordingly.
“The Athletic understands some felt a full pre-season schedule was not necessary due to Project Restart and the nine matches left to play over the course of June and July.”
Cocu was sacked back in November, with the Rams then sitting at the foot of the Championship table. Wayne Rooney proved a contested interim manager and has proved even more so as a permanent boss.
But he’s steered his side to safety, and will go into the summer with plans for a much more comfortable Championship finish next time round.
The club is in dire need of a rethink and the points penalty going into next season, if finalised, will largely set the tone for their showing in the Championship.
