A LEAN DEEN FIGHTING MACHINE
Watford striker is flying thanks to new fitness regime...could a shock England call be next?
Considering his history of training with Watford-born world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua, Troy deeney’s tendency not to pull his punches is hardly surprising.
striker deeney enjoys ruffling the feathers of those he believes are not up for a fight. defenders saw him as a mean machine, though not the most lean.
Yet after almost falling out of love with football after his 30th birthday in June, deeney decided it was time to change his lifestyle.
The Watford bruiser sought extra help, hiring a personal nutritionist and asking renowned strength and conditioning coach Jamie reynolds to put him on a strict training regime.
With the help of reynolds, who also trains Joshua, deeney has shed a stone but built his power and physicality. He looks fitter than ever and there is even talk of an unlikely england call-up.
The robust and rampaging spirit is still there, though he now has the legs to maintain it for 90 minutes. Against Tottenham on sunday, he proved it.
deeney managed a total of 12 sprints — four times as many as england striker Harry Kane — and scored the leveller that sent
Watford on the way to a 2-1 win at Vicarage road.
in the dying moments, with the ball in the corner, deeney used his body as a shield. The big lump, as he calls himself, would not be moved.
As a result, Javi gracia’s Watford go into the international break having won four from four in the Premier League, level with Chelsea and Liverpool.
Powerhouse deeney has led from the front week in, week out and scored twice. reynolds cannot help but feel proud.
‘ Troy is always the hardest worker in the gym and somehow manages to get an extra 10 per cent out of everyone else who’s training at the same time,’ said reynolds.
one of deeney’s regular routines sees him charge into a cushioned pad in what one can safely assume is practice for corners. Another sees him throw a 10kg medicine ball at a brick wall repeatedly. His meals are all pre-packaged and planned, too.
Turning 30 made something click inside the player, who told himself he could not ‘party like a rock star’ and still compete in the
Premier League. england would never come calling if he could not keep up either, and that remains an ambition after turning down the chance to represent Jamaica.
deeney was 22 when he joined from Walsall for £ 250,000 in 2010. since then he has often been tipped to leave Watford, with Leicester and everton among his admirers.
deal after deal fell through, but deeney has never let it distract him m from fulfilling his duty as a leader in the dressing room.
Asked about the striker, one agent who took a player to Watford in the summer said he goes out of his way to welcome new signings.
He is brutally honest, too, telling team-mates he is not afraid to speak his mind.
Arsenal know all about that. it is almost a year since deeney said the gunners did not have the
cojones to compete after Watford came from 1-0 down to win 2-1.
After sunday’s win, deeney brought back memories of that infamous jibe by saying Tottenham ‘ didn’t like it up ’ em’ in a post-match interview.
The ballsy striker has always talked a big game off the pitch but he is now playing one on it too.