Our men’s SuperLiga team has started its summer preparations under the guidance of our new head coach, Szabó István, beginning with fitness and agility tests on Monday and the first ball sessions on Tuesday.

Our men’s SuperLiga team has started its summer preparations under the guidance of our new head coach, Szabó István, beginning with fitness and agility tests on Monday and the first ball sessions on Tuesday.

Our senior team, preparing for its second season in the top flight, gathered in Csíkszereda under the guidance of a partly new coaching staff: head coach Szabó István will be assisted by Kerekes Barna and Bajkó Barna, with Puskás Zoltán as fitness coach and Nagy Barna as goalkeeping coach, while Keszler Áron remains the video analyst. Several changes can also be expected in the playing squad in the near future, but the core of last year’s team has remained.

The first two weeks of summer preparations will take place at home, with two training sessions a day, and the series of friendly matches will also begin during this period. Next weekend we will travel to Slovakia, where we will take part in the Duna Cup, held on 27–28 June at the MOL Arena in Dunajská Streda, alongside Győr, Topolya and hosts DAC. On the first day, we will face Hungarian champions Győr, before playing either in the third-place match or the final on the following day.

From there, the team will travel to Austria for a training camp based in Mönichkirchen, during which the boys will play three further friendly matches, with the exact schedule still being finalised.

After Tuesday morning’s training session, we asked Szabó István about his first impressions. The head coach said that in the first days the main focus is still on getting to know everything.

“We are in the phase of getting familiar with everything: the city, the club, the management and the staff. There is a lot of information coming from every direction, but what probably interests everyone is that we have started working with the team” – said the new head coach.

The squad has begun a five-week preparation period, which was already preceded by two weeks of individual work at home. The players had fitness tasks to complete and provided feedback to the coaching staff. This week, the work continues with two training sessions a day, and the staff is planning a friendly match for Saturday.

According to Szabó István, the formation of the squad is still in progress.

“The head coach always wants the full squad to be in place as soon as possible, but in football this is not always possible. Players wait, negotiations have to be held with agents and clubs, and many players have contracts running until the end of June” – he said.

He added that there are positions where reinforcements may definitely be needed, primarily on the right side of defence, on the wing after Anderson’s departure, as well as in the attacking line and in the number ten position.

The new head coach emphasised that they want to build on what the team did well in the spring, while also improving.

“Professionalism means always striving to be better, both individually and as a team” – he underlined.

Several young academy players will also get the chance to prove themselves during the preparation period. Speaking about them, Szabó István said:

“You can see that they have gone through a good development process, but this is the SuperLiga, the first division, where you also have to meet the physical demands. The transition from youth football to senior football is never easy.”

Rédai Attila