When Folarin Balogun arrives for his individual training sessions, his coach, Saul Isaksson-Hurst, has learned to be flexible. He can have a detailed plan mapped out, but Balogun, an intense and analytical character, tends to bring his own ideas. "He's very serious and he's very driven," Isaksson-Hurst tells Sky Sports.
"He'll sometimes come and say, 'look, I want to do this'. He's not backwards about coming forward with what he wants to work on. We'll often discuss it and have a back and forth.
"He challenges me as much as I try to challenge him. But it's great to work with him because he always brings it, that mentality, that intensity. You know you're doing a session with a top, top player because it's always at 100 per cent." It is a revealing insight into the mind of a player who has taken an active role in his own development, typified by his decision to enlist the help of Isaksson-Hurst following a difficult loan spell with Middlesbrough while he was still a teenager at Arsenal.
Balogun returned having only scored three goals in 18 Championship games. He was determined not to let it define him. He wanted to get better," explains Isaksson-Hurst.
"He was a very targeted and aspirational type of guy." Their first sessions took place that summer. "We had an intensive few weeks of training in London, really focused on him as a profile, that number nine, that fox in the box who's great at finishing. Both feet, movements, timing of runs.
Those sorts of things." Balogun's subsequent success on loan at Reims, where he scored 22 goals in 39 games, showed the value of the extra work. Now 25, he has been training with Isaksson-Hurst ever since, booking in sessions in the off-season or during breaks in his schedule. Balogun found himself at the centre of a political storm following his red card at the World Cup but showed his quality at the tournament with three goals.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
