From Academy to First Team: How CD Leganés are Integrating Human Performance

The club has a strong focus on player development and human performance plays an important role in achieving their goals. First team fitness coach Juan Piñero explains how WIMU helps accomplish their aims.

“The aim is to help, to contribute to better performance and to avoid injuries,’ states Piñero. “[WIMU] GPS technology is very useful because it offers information from inside the game.

“It is the best possible assessment that is not invasive and you can have it live, instantly, and after. It offers so much of the information related to the variable of your choice.”

Leganés quickly and seamlessly integrated WIMU into their daily workflows. “Adding the devices is quite simple because nowadays footballers are used to using GPS technology,” says Piñero. 

“Here all the players have been properly trained. They put on their devices, they leave them, they act responsibly with it, so i think easiness is key. 

"The player does not notice he is wearing a device, however you have all the information you need with a click. You have it there and are able to make decisions when it is time to. That decision-making process is pretty important when it comes to managing daily training”

Piñero and his team use the full WIMU suite of products at every step of their daily work. “We use it pre-training, during training and post-training,” explains Piñero. “It is there all the time. You are constantly assessing what is happening.”

During training, Piñero uses SVIVO - WIMU’s real-time data visualization software - to watch and analyze the players performance, as well as monitor distance between players, speed and position among other variables.

“It’s essential isn’t it? SVIVO is the tool that allows you to make a decision,” states Piñero. “SVIVO allows us to have an objective and reliable tool about what is going on during training sessions, enabling us to make better decisions.”

SVIVO also plays an important role during competitive games as well. “We pay a lot of attention to what has happened at half time, i.e. the physical needs, to then, in the changing room, check those cases that have exceeded the threshold,” says Piñero.

"Many times players say they are fine, that it is what the game demanded, but there are some cases perhaps some overload has been noticed and it helps to raise a yellow flag and keep an eye on the player during the match.”

The work doesn’t finish once a game or training session is over and the sports science department utilizes SPRO to obtain personalizable analysis insights. 

“GPS Technology is advancing by leaps and bounds and SPRO is good proof of that,” says Piñero. “It’s amazing. These changes are leading increasingly to a more accurate study of decisive actions. That’s priceless”

“There are many metrics that allow us to see and apply that level of personalization needed during training sessions,” explains Piñero. “As the saying goes, one size does not fit for all.”

Leganés also take advantage of WIMU Cloud in order to generate performance insights and help provide supporting dashboards to bring the data to life. 

“WIMU Cloud offers many benefits,” adds Piñero. “Having a cloud with various dashboards based on what you want to see or assess on each training session or in matches - and that they are interactive, where you can change metrics, where you can change dynamics… that’s gold, just like SPRO.”

What really sets Leganés apart from the crowd is how they have integrated WIMU technology throughout the youth divisions at the club in order to aid player development at a younger age and create pathways for progression

“We are used to seeing GPS technology in first teams, in professional and elite teams," says academy fitness coach Raúl Muñoz. "What we are not used to, is to be equipped - and we are so lucky that we are able to give GPS to even younger teams. Even our cadets will soon have GPS, which will allow us to analyze data and behaviors at a younger ages - and that’s not common.

“The goal is to train them so that the first team can be nourished in the future," continues Muñoz. “When it is time to jump in [to the first team], if they are already used to these tools, it is valuable.”

Piñero reiterates Leganés’ forward-thinking vision and joined-up approach to human performance: “We collect this information through different stages, different ages, and we expect to see our cadets, U15s, U16s or U17 players’ evolution over the years in order to see how the player is progressing. Something that is hard to find among players and reserve teams in Spain.”

Leganés’ seamless integration of WIMU technology across workflows, departments and age categories is rooted in the flexibility of the devices. 

“It is all about the player acting naturally, without noticing he has a device on his back. That he doesn’t arrive late for a training session because of a device,” explains Piñero. “We have a priceless information that shouldn’t interfere at all in football competition and training process”

“Using a holistic approach that does not involve something invasive with which players don’t feel tested all the time, meaning that the training sessions run naturally in terms of approach and competition, for me is essential.”