Pre-Season Testing Insight As Everton Return To USM Finch Farm

Everton’s First-Team squad returned to USM Finch Farm on Sunday and the Club’s Director of Medical Services, Danny Donachie, has provided an insight into the players’ pre-season fitness testing.

Before taking to the field for a training session under manager Carlo Ancelotti, the Blues players underwent a series of physical examinations, encompassing medical checks and gym work.

Their programme included strength and joint exercises, while they also completed body fat, blood and heart tests.

Donachie detailed the reasoning behind the specific assessments - and explained how the players’ results provide a valuable resource as the campaign progresses.

“In the gym, we do fairly simple baseline tests,” he told evertonfc.com.

“So, if a player gets injured during the season, we know the levels they need to get back to and have information we can objectively measure against.

“Obviously, it’s only been three weeks since we last saw the players so we’re not expecting huge changes [to the players’ physical condition], but it’s important to get those baseline figures which we can refer to.

“The exercises include a jump test, an adductor and abductor test, and a hamstring test.


“We can also see if there are any asymmetries we need to work at.

“The physios do their own tests on the treatment beds, too, looking at certain ranges of movement – the key ones are hip and ankle.

“We’ll then give the players a strength training programme they can do before training on the basis of those results.

“The most important test we do is the cardiac screening. We do an ECG [which tests heart rhythm and electrical activity] and an echocardiogram [which shows how heart muscle and valves are working].

“Those tests are mandatory by FIFA.

“There have been a few high-profile cases [of players having heart issues] and, while these tests don’t pick up on everything, it’s important we know they are in good order.”

The 2019/20 Premier League season concluded just three weeks ago, with Everton having played their final nine games of the campaign in just 35 days.

The new term is set to get under way on the weekend of 12 September and Donachie explained how the reduced pre-season period will alter the squad’s programme.

He also expressed why it was vital the players used their time off to rest and recharge.

“I actually think it was very important for them to have a physical and mental break,” he explained.

“They’ve been doing some work in the last week or so in the lead up to coming back and they’re at a high level of fitness. Because it was such a short time off, you were not going to see big drop-offs

“The change now is it’s going to be a shorter pre-season and it will be fast-tracked because they don’t need to do a lot of the foundation work they’ve had to in the past.

“It does feel good to be back at the training ground and set the marker down for the new season.

“We’ve had a really good first day and it’s been great to see the players again.

“They look refreshed and keen to get back playing again.”