Preparing the Danish Goalkeepers for Euro 2025

The Danish national goalkeeper team started its preparations long before the Euros.

 

We made an analysis of our own style of play and the opponent’s offensive threats and their high press. This analysis will be the foundation for our choice of training themes in the goalkeeper sessions during camp.

 

When we get into camp our preliminary planning is already done. So, during the camp is it just a matter of fine-tuning the drills. It is important for us to be well-prepared, but at the same time adaptable, so that we make sure that training will meet our targets.

 

Every session has target scenarios; match-like scenarios that we would like the goalkeepers to experience and learn from. During our sessions we try to get the goalkeepers involved in as many of these scenarios as possible.

 

We only have short periods of time together with the goalkeepers so when we are on the pitch, we want to be efficient. We try to be creative in our training design – as an example, working on two goals at the same time – to get the keepers more active.

 

We want to create sessions that the goalkeepers look forward to so that they arrive on the pitch with eagerness and ready to learn.

Match preparation

Almost everything we do with the Danish national team is related to preparing for matches. But the two last days leading up to a match (MD-2 and MD-1) in particular are match preparation.

 

On these two days we are even more focused on getting the physical load right so that our goalkeepers are ready for the game. On MD-2 we prioritise themes on defending our box/goal in relation to our analysis.

 

MD-1 is almost like a ritual. We have a very short training session with the team – normally around 60 minutes – and the goalkeepers join the team training after 20 minutes. The theme of this session is match preparation.

 

We start the goalkeeper session with basic handling, then some simple crossing and distribution and end it with some finishing. Afterwards the goalkeepers will join the team for offensive set pieces, finishing drills and a small-sided game.

 

During the offensive set pieces, the starting goalkeeper will do some individual work with the goalkeeper coach. On the evening of MD-1 the goalkeeper team meets and does a walkthrough of our goalkeeping style in relation to the opponent. The goalkeepers lead this walkthrough, and I lead the part about the opponent, including a look at their set pieces and penalty kicks.

 

Matchday

We start matchday with a staff meeting in the morning where we go through everything in relation to game, on and off pitch. We have a short walk with the players and after that we get lunch, rest, then have a match meeting and match meal before we leave for the stadium.

 

I set up the warm-up as soon as we get to the stadium. Just before we enter the pitch, the goalkeeper team meets and has a short pep talk. From the moment we enter the pitch, we try to create a focused yet relaxed environment.

 

During the warm-up I try to be in contact with the starting goalkeeper continuously, so that I always have a feeling of her mental state. Do I need to push her a bit more or does she need us to slow things down a bit?

 

When the warm-up has ended my job is to follow the game closely, live and via our live feed on an iPad, so that I can give feedback to the goalkeeper. After the game, I have a short chat with our goalkeeper – just to get her perspective on the game – before I start the analysis.

 

The day after the match

The day after the game, we have a light goalkeeper session for all goalkeepers and then the goalkeepers who didn’t play will train with the reserves. In the evening, the goalkeeper team has a meeting to evaluate the game overall.

 

Then, the cycle starts over, and we look forward to the next game.