Waching daily May 31 2018

Real Madrid have penned a heartfelt letter to Aberdeen following the death of club legend Neale Cooper at the age of 54

Cooper, a mainstay of the Dons team which lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, was admitted to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in the early hours of Sunday morning after a fall in the city's Bucksburn area

The former Aberdeen, Aston Villa and Rangers midfielder had recovered from a heart attack last year

The message, from Real PR chief Emilio Butragueno, read: 'We are deeply shocked and saddened after hearing the news that Neale Cooper passed away yesterday

'We are all very affected by this tragic loss and we want to be with you in these difficult moments

'On behalf of our president, Florentino Perez, and all of us at Real Madrid FC please send our deepest condolences to Neale Cooper's family and friends

He will be in our prayers and thoughts.' Cooper was in Sir Alex Ferguson's team which beat Real Madrid 2-1 in Gothenburg in May 1983 before overcoming Hamburg later that year to clinch the European Super Cup

He also won two league winners' medals following the Dons' championship triumphs of 1984 and 1985, while he won the Scottish Cup four times and League Cup once

The combative midfielder also played for Aston Villa, Rangers, Reading - although injury hampered his progress at all three clubs - and had a second spell with the Dons

He rediscovered his form and fitness at Dunfermline and Ross County before managing the latter team and also Hartlepool, Gillingham and Peterhead

He had been working for Saltire Energy and attended a 35th anniversary gathering of the Cup Winners' Cup triumph with his former team-mates earlier this month

For more infomation >> Breaking News - Real Madrid offer condolences to Aberdeen after Neale Cooper death - Duration: 3:10.

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Breaking News - The fittest England team of all time? Southgate out to copy Pep - Duration: 7:09.

Gareth Southgate will send his troops into battle against Tunisia on June 18 with one clear directive: be proactive, not reactive

It is a message that has been drummed into the players since they reported for duty on May 20

Southgate has had enough of seeing England being passive on the world stage. At Euro 2016 when Eric Dier gave England the lead in their opening game against Russia, they should have put their foot down on the accelerator

Instead they drew 1-1. Similar instances have riddled England's history at major tournaments

The team meetings at St George's Park over the past week-and-a-half have been designed to ensure that doesn't happen on Southgate's watch

And players have no choice but to listen, with mobile phones forbidden during squad debriefs

At their Staffordshire training base, Southgate and his staff have got England's players working on a pressing game

The manager has developed a good relationship with Pep Guardiola and fans can expect England to adopt City's possession-based pressing style in Russia, though there are doubts over whether they have the technical quality to make such a stylish statement

But Southgate's team have had tailored sessions to ensure players have sufficient energy levels to execute the strategy he wants

Each player was provided with a training schedule adjusted for the number of games they played last season

Central defender Harry Maguire started all 38 Premier League games for Leicester and was pulled out of training earlier this week to ensure he isn't overloaded before Saturday's friendly against Nigeria at Wembley

Team cohesion drills, which include short and sharp sprints, have been used increasingly during camp

At the moment sessions generally don't last more than 90 minutes. If on occasion they train twice in a day, players will complete a light morning session before an afternoon of weights and mobility work

Training has been designed to maintain rather than gain fitness. Avoiding muscular injuries has been another key consideration

One of the key reasons England opted against holding their pre-tournament camp abroad was to lower the risk of injury

With travelling comes unnecessary fatigue. With fatigue comes injury. And travelling means you miss at least two days of training

Tactical and shape work will be increasingly phased into sessions the closer it gets to the big kick-off

Southgate, though, has already taken his players through some pattern-of-play work in small-sided games and will look at continuing his experiment of playing Kyle Walker on the right of three centre backs

Off the pitch, camaraderie is said to be very encouraging. Players have been at pains to stress that club divides within the squad no longer exist and an agreement between players not to bring phones down at dinner time has helped create an atmosphere of togetherness

It has also been pointed out to Sportsmail that all players made a point of shaking hands in the moments before kick-off in the March friendlies against Holland and Italy

Southgate is leaving no stone unturned as he attempts to repair England's tarnished reputation

The definitive list of staff joining the team in Russia next month will be ratified by the FA next week

In addition to Southgate's closest lieutenants Steve Holland and goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson, the England manager will take a host of specialist staff in search of finding every advantage during the tournament

Lead performance coaches Ben Rosenblatt and Bryce Kavanagh - who will also play a key role in players nutrition - will certainly be on the plane

So will self-proclaimed 'world's No 1' striker coach Allan Russell and the FA's psychology expert Pippa Grange

It is understood the FA have considered installing a mobile cryotherapy chamber at their Russian training base to aid team doctor Robin Chakraverty and lead physio Steve Kemp's team

Players already have use of an altitude chamber and hydrotherapy suite at St George's Park, and squad members have also undergone vigorous tests for asthma as part of their preparations

The message is that this will be the best prepared England squad ever to travel to a World Cup