Kevin Wimmer has revealed that he was shocked by the difference in approach to training and nutrition at Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City.
Wimmer impressed in his first season at Tottenham, putting in solid displays at the back when Jan Vertonghen was out injured for a big chunk of the 2015-16 campaign.
The Austrian international found opportunities hard to come by in his second season at White Hart Lane but he had shown enough promise to convince Stoke to pay £18m to sign him in the summer of 2017.
However, things did not go according to plan for the centre-back at the Bet365 Stadium, with Stoke being relegated in his first season at the club.
Wimmer has now opened up on the difference between the Mauricio Pochettino regime at Tottenham and the Mark Hughes one with the Potters
The 29-year-old, who now plays for Austrian side Rapid Wien, admitted that the approach to nutrition at Stoke left him baffled.
Wimmer told Transfermarkt: “The transfer fee was of course a big deal. On the one hand, I was incredibly proud, but on the other hand, I couldn’t really grasp or even realise that figure.
“At that point, I was really keen to attack with Stoke, wanted to tackle, make a difference.
“If I’m honest, I was shocked: at Tottenham, every nuance was taken care of, both in training and off the pitch. The best example is the diet: every intolerance was taken care of. There was a gluten-free offer, there was a vegan offer.
“At Stoke, you could even order fish and chips for lunch. While at Tottenham you had to beg for a day off, at Stoke, Wednesdays were generally free.
“So, I thought, I don’t know if this can work. So I hired a personal trainer to make good use of the day off.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Pochettino was one of a few modern-day managers who revolutionised the approach to training and nutrition in the game.
So, it does not really come as a surprise that the difference in approach between him and Hughes, who was an old-school kind of manager, was night and day.
I suspect the situation at Spurs under Harry Redknapp was quite similar to the one Wimmer describes at Stoke.
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