Why Hodgson was wrong to keep Capello’s camp in Krakow

Therefore because of the higher environmental temperatures, heat was generated too quickly, and adjustments were needed to find an optimum heat balance. The hypothalamus (the thermoregulatory control centre) in the brain receives feedback from sensors all over the body to determine a safe intensity at which to work. The brain then limits the amount of muscle tissue that is “active” in order to maintain this balance, resulting in a reduced level of performance, as demonstrated by the England squad during the latter stages of their match with France.

Could this have been helped?

In short, yes. A lot of the effects of heat can be countered by a process called acclimatisation something which England appeared to do little of. Acclimatisation involves living and training in the conditions you are going to be competing in whether it’s hot / cold, dry / wet, at altitude or a combination.

England arrived in Krakow (Poland) on 6^th June, just 5 days prior to their first game against France which was scheduled to take place in Donetsk, Ukraine. The gulf in temperature between Krakow and Donetsk on June 11^th was a cool 13°C, the hottest temperature seen in London that day.

Someone in the England camp, not necessarily Hodgson, should have realised there was a huge difference in temperature between where they were based and where they were playing, and that this could potentially affect the team’s performance.

Had England arrived in Ukraine 7 days prior to the start of the tournament and begun training, the extra time and exposure to the heat may have induced cardiovascular adaptations that may have been hugely beneficial during the early games.

A 7-day heat-acclimation protocol would lower resting core body temperature by approximately 0.6°C. Although this may seem a nominal amount, it is enough to allow temperature-sensitive enzymes responsible for producing energy to continue working at their optimum level. This would also allow a longer period of time before reaching critical heat levels.

 

Figure 3. A. A polypeptide protein beginning to los its quaternary structure as a result of high temperature. B. The same polypeptide protein regains its quaternary structure as a result of a heat shock protein (yellow strand) holding the two original strands (green and blue) together.

Other training-induced responses include an up-regulation of heat-shock proteins or HSP’s. These stress molecules serve a number of functions ranging from preventing denaturing (breakdown) of key enzymes involved in energy production to preventing damage to neurons responsible for stimulating muscle contraction.

Hypothetically speaking England could have continued their intensity for the entirety of the 90 minutes against France. This could have had a major effect on the overall outcome of not only that particular game but heading into subsequent games. The momentum from good performances could have carried us further in the tournament, but unfortunately we’ll never know.

What can England learn from this?

In an ideal world England would arrive 2 weeks early, acclimatise and maybe even have played a friendly or two in the Ukraine. Amongst other obligations, the modern national team has to play a farewell game at Wembley, something which is unlikely to change in the future.

What can change is the structure of the backroom staff. England has experts that are no doubt providing similar, much more detailed information similar to that provided in this article to help Hodgson and indeed his predecessor Capello. For whatever reason, tradition or otherwise, the manager pulls rank in these types of situations. What authority do Hodgson and indeed Capello have here?

Yes, both are highly respected coaches with 61 years of managerial experience between them. Yes, both have won major honours doing things their own way. Yes, both act/acted with the best of intentions. But if the English game is to move forward, and the national team is to win a major international tournament they have to take science into consideration.

Team GB made use of experts to great effect at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, hauling in an impressive 47 medals, 19 of them gold, their largest for 100 years, something they wish to build upon this summer. Let’s hope England do the same in time for Brazil 2014.

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