Kyle Walker has revealed that Dele Alli was the only Tottenham Hotspur player he ever saw complete Mauricio Pochettino’s gruelling ‘Gacon’ running test during their time together in north London.
Pochettino earned a reputation in the Premier League for turning Spurs into one of the division's fittest, highest-pressing sides following his arrival from Southampton in 2014.
Speaking on The Overlap, a show brought to you by Sky Bet, Walker detailed the specific drill used by the Argentine coach to push his squad to their physical limits, and why it left such a lasting impression on the dressing room.
Walker: 'Dele was the only player to complete Pochettino's intense running drill'
“We had the famous thing called the Gacon [running test] – whoever played for Tottenham will know the Gacon,” Walker said. “It starts at 145 metres and you have 45-seconds to get there, you then walk up five metres [to another cone] and have to run back. It’s a continuous thing and there were 16 or 17 cones.
“The only person that I’ve ever seen complete it was Dele Alli – he was an animal at running.”
Alli’s stamina was central to Pochettino’s blueprint at White Hart Lane during the mid-to-late-2010s. As the energetic attacking midfielder behind Harry Kane, Alli regularly covered more distance than any other player, led Tottenham’s counter-press and helped the club mount consecutive Premier League title challenges in 2016 and 2017.
The volume of endurance work under Pochettino became the benchmark for players to make the grade at Spurs, says Walker. So much so that when the right-back completed his £50 million transfer to Manchester City in the summer of 2017, the contrasting training methods under Pep Guardiola initially left him questioning his decision.
While Pochettino prioritised relentless off-the-ball running, Guardiola’s pre-season sessions revolved almost exclusively around possession drills, alongside relaxed training habits from some of Man City's senior stars.
“I remember getting off in the pre-season [at Manchester City] and you’ve got Kun Agüero who’s just balling around training – bad trainer, bad trainer but he turned it on in the game,” Walker explained.
“I got back to my hotel room after and speaking to my dad saying, ‘I think I’ve made a mistake here.’ I went from a [Mauricio] Pochettino team of running hard and we’re going to run all over you, dominating that area and also with a little bit of quality from certain players we’re going to win the game, to looking now and thinking we’re doing hardly any running in pre-season because Pep doesn’t like running – we did a little bit but it was mainly with the ball.”
Walker’s initial doubts quickly faded as Guardiola’s ball-dominant approach delivered several Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy during his spell at the Etihad Stadium.
However, with Pochettino set to make a return to English football at Manchester United, Walker’s recollection serves as a reminder of the intensity and demands the Argentine will expect of his new squad from day one.
Pochettino's first game in charge is expected to be Man United's visit to Anfield on November 22nd.
