(Submitted by Kev in Manchester)
Granted, at the dizzy heights of the latter stages of international football competitions, management requires an alchemic mix of tactical nous, man management and communication skills, which only a handful of individuals ever manage to achieve.
Down at the grubby end of the PL and below however, it is rather simpler and can be summed up in a single phrase -‘pick players for positions.’ By observing this simple dictate as closely as possible Brian Clough went very far indeed.
Of course you need to pick players who can pass and tackle at a level commensurate with the average PL player and they need to be fit enough to motor as effectively at the end of 90 or 120 minutes as they do in the first or second minute, but then as a PL manager these attributes are surely second nature in your squad.
You need a keeper who is quick to spot his angles, can come for a ball and stop a shot.
In defence, you need a right back that can tackle, does not get a nose bleed when he moves into the opponents' half, can cross a ball and is right footed; ditto on the left. Your centre-backs need to tackle, concentrate and read an attack sufficiently well to get their head or foot on the ball first.
Play these people in the position that they were born to play; play them out of position only in the event of an emergency.
All the above attributes are apparent and need no special insight to divine. We, the fans, manage to suss it given a game or ten, so any self respecting PL manager should see it in rather less time.
In an ideal midfield you need at least one player capable of hugging the touchline, getting to the bye-line and popping a couple of accurate crosses in each half, another that can read and break up play, one capable of beating an opponent and passing with reasonable accuracy - with your fourth; double up on any of the above.
In all cases play left footed players on the left; and right footed on the right; unless you are lucky enough to have Ryan Giggs or Ronaldo or similar in your squad - and we don’t.
Up front one big target man who can head a bit (at least) and if not, then make sure he is dainty on his feet or lucky with his arse, his shin, in fact any bodily protrusion. Finally, add a nifty and awkward character who, if he has to, can drop into midfield to pick up the ball if it ain’t getting to feet, or drift around and pull the opponents defence around.
Finally, finally this time, look and learn; if you are facing a mustard fast left winger, put the right back on notice; give him some help. If some, oh I dunno, midlands club happens on a player that can hurl the ball to the far post making every throw in a formidable set piece.. take a look at your own squad .. it’s unlikely to be a unique skill.
There is no excuse for not chasing a loose ball, losing a 51-49 ball , or failing to double back if you lose possession.
Don’t let your set piece maestro get in the shower until he has hit a hundred free kicks a day from every likely angle; get your centre forward to strike thunderbolts with both feet until the keeper can’t tell the difference, make sure your wingers suffer a reflex crossing action when they see the opponents' dead ball line - you get the idea; practice, practice, practice.
Be fit. Be football fit. Be diplomatic, by all means, but don’t say black when your paying customers know very well it is white.
Following the above does not guarantee trophies but it should avert humiliation. When will Zola learn I wonder?
COYI
26 comments:
you mean everything we are not doing!!
I think that's the giste of it!
...only if we had those players.
Stani, Clough won the European Cup with journeymen all the way through the team. They knew their jobs and they did what they were told to do by a non nonsense manager who believed in passing the ball but keeping the game simple. The Forest team that won in 79 had one brilliant player - Shilton, two very good players - Francis (who was played out of position ironically) and Woodcock, and a bunch of goodish to distinctly average players - Anderson, Clarke, McGovern, Burns, Lloyd, Birtles, Bowyer and Robertson. You don't need great individual players to succeed, you need organisation, leadership and motivation. That comes from the manager.
Sounds as simple as blog writing, if only eh? If it were I wouldn't need to be working now would I. Best contact the club, make sure you have plenty of credit on your phone they'll be a long time laughing before you hang up out of embarrassment. Don't you just love those who can talk a good job but are completely useless when it comes to it. How does it go, "those that can do, those that can't teach"
Its changed. It's now, "Those who cant manage West Ham
HF,
That's fair enough mate but the manager doesn't cross that line. Let's take the manager out of the equation for a moment and ask if our players should be performing better even if they are played where they are? I don't think the 11 on the pitch are doing well enough even if you don't take the points Kevin mentioned into consideration.
Then we have the individual mistakes that have cost us MASSIVELY. Just in our recent games; what does a manager do about Tomkins fluffed back pass? Diamanti's penalty miss? Mido's chance against Stoke? All crucial to the result of the game. If any two of those errors did not occur, would we even be talking about relegation?
Come on be fair Zola had never managed a team before he came to the Hammers, he is learning his trade, I mean he is only on 1.9 mil a year, you can't expect much for that can you? He says he is happy as long as the players support him, it doesn'tmatter about what 35,000 fans think. We don't have to worry on Sunday because they are all going to 'stay strong'lets hope they have been weak in the previous six games.Pray for a lucky win coyi
All teams make mistakes Stani. Arsenal made a couple against Barcelona last night, but they still battled back and got a draw against the best club side in the World. That's because Wenger changed things and the Arsenal players kept belief, despite being played off the park for most of the first 65 minutes of the game. I have watched Zola at Upton Park during the last three games. He looks broken. He doesn't convey belief himself. We make a mistake and the heads go down - including his! Meanwhile Clarke is nowhere to be seen. I remember how they used to plan together on the touch line, now Clarke keeps his distance, almost as if he is washing his hands of what is going on out on the pitch. You keep making excuses for Zola. How about looking at it from the other side? Zola was the manager when we broke up the Curbishley side and parted with Collins, Bellamy and Neill. What did he do about it? Curbishley would have walked but Zola accepted it. He even allowed Duxbury to spin the bullshit about how he wanted to work with a smaller group of players! Zola allowed the situation where we went into the season with no cover for Ilunga, no alternative to Cole and no cover for Ilunga. He then let them sell Collins! More fool him! Any manager worth his salt would have said, "Stop or I go". Zola just accepted it, like the puppet he was! And now the players know he is a soft touch so they coast.
Spot on John!
It baffles me how ZOLA really believes he has the support of all the players.Losing six on the spin ,surely, has to raise questions in their minds about his choice of formation,tactics etc,and I just cannot believe they haven't voiced their grievances.Its hard to know what degree of input ZOLA allows the players to have, but the way things are going there is going to be one hell of an eruption in that dressing room .And I cannot see SULLIVAN sitting back either.If WESTHAM get badly beaten again at EVERTON ,I think he will have more than his two penneth worth.
Hey Fanno: I've been back through your posts from previous years - and I can see why you've sexed it up and go now for the ridiculous stories and sensationalist tabloid headlines = it's because no one used to comment on your posts before - I had to laugh mate as there's all these zero's next to your comments - it all makes perfect sense now saddo!
Shows how the blog has taken off doesn't it? Hard to get an audience in the early days but once the snowball starts to roll...
I would agree that it had taken off if only people agreed with you - but if we're honest there's not many that do - you try and justify it by believing that all the anti posts are the same person
Claret, I didn't even write this article so some clearly do agree with my position!
Hammersfan, i understand what Kev is saying, yes that is the basis of a well balanced squad. Again you are correct in saying that you don't need big stars to achieve a measure of success. The game is far more competetive than it was 30 years ago, however, it was & is the same for everybody. Clough was an extraordinary manager. One of the best in my opinion. He knew how to get the very best from what he had. I have spoken of Guus Hiddink before, he is the same. He very nearly took the Socceroos way above their playing ability in the last World Cup. If only for that Neill tackle, they may very well have made the semi finals. How does he do that? He knows his players. He observes at training, strengths, weaknesses & psychological makeup & condition. Not all players have the same strengths, nor personality. They are above all, human beings. Some need a shoulder to cry on, some need a kick up the arse. So where does this lead me HF. To us. For the life of me, i do not understand how a squad of our ability is languishing near the trapdoor. Look at our players. Miles of ability & or experience. So what is the problem? As Sherlock Holmes said, eliminate the obviously wrong & whatever is left however improbable, is the answer. Given that football is 50% ability & 50% mental attitude, albeit the giant killers of FA Cup history, it can only be our morale. So why? Is that Zola & the players are unhappy with our owners or the way they PERCEIVE the club to be going. Irrelevant, they have a job to do. They are football players, not business owners. So it's not that. Is it Zola himself? Have they lost confidence in him? Maybe, but somehow i don't think so. I don't necessarily think that they see him as the greatest tactician that the game has ever seen, but i believe that they do support him & want him to be seen as successful. What does that leave really? Personal motivation. That's all that's left. In my opinion what has happened to the squad is a culmination of external pressure & a general feeling of negativity & desperation. We have all felt that in our lives, for sometimes no apparent reason. This is treatable. Zola needs to recognize what is happening, fix himself, do not drop the head as you say HF, & find the motivation for the team. Find a reason to win. Find a reason to beat the odds. That's what i see HF, albeit from a distance. Against Everton, we would do well to control Cahill. He sits behind the strikers & a lot comes from him. I know his game well. He will not stop trying, you need to be up front with him. Everton have some good players, but they are not the same side if you can negate him. Or at least slow him down somehow. He will lurk around & take half chances. We can do well against Everton but we need to fix the mental outlook from the opening whistle. The only way now is forward, simple, one way to go.
I agree up to a point mate but your analysis of Everton is a season or so out of date sadly. Cahill was the main threat but now Arteta, Fellani, the South African whose name I can't remember, Saha, those kids coming through, and Baines are all very real threats. Watch Everton now and they are everything Zola wanted West Ham to become - FLUID. Players are pulled out of position by the movement of the Everton boys who, when they are on song, play the best football in the division in my opinion. We are up against it on Sunday, no question and I hold out very little hope if I am honest. Everton away is a more difficult game than Liverpool away in my opinion. Close out Torres and Gerrard and you close out Liverpool (easier said than done of course!) but since Arteta's return, Everton come at you from multiple threats - Arteta, Cahill, Pinnear (remembered his name), Baines running into space down the left flank, Saha, Fellani, Yakubu if he plays, the kids...it is potentially an awesome team if Moyes can keep them together. If I was a billionaire, I would buy Everton! Add three or four to their present squad and I'd back them to finish in the top 4 next season.
HF,
Yes. And most of what you said about what Arsenal did is down to the players.
And Zola's tried all our players. I'm sure if he had the luxury of bringing the likes of Walcott off the bench, he'd use it.
Our individual mistakes are costly ones. I'm not making excuses for him, I'm telling it how I see it. Are you then making excuses for the players?
By the way, that left-footed Messi's not bad is he? He's made that right wing all his own :) (teasing)
Winston,
Some very good points.
That left footed Messi is, of course, two footed and pops up left, right and down the middle. Zola assembled this squad. Zola accepted the departure of Neill, Collins and Bellamy. Zola, apparently, wanted McCarthy, Diamanti and Jimenez. Keep making excuses Stani but the buck stops with the manager in football.
Oh come on HF! All those players leaving were the club's doing but you still blame Zola? You say he should have stood up to it but then what? He resigns and who do we get then? You would see him walking as honourable; I see him staying, fighting and working in such an environment as honourable.
'Apparently'? So we don't know that? Neither do we know how much of a fight Zola put up to keep the players the club sold. A manager can only do a certain amount when it comes to keeping players. Take the Joe Cole contract issue as an example. Ancelotti has said that he gave his 'technical opinion' to the club and that he would like to keep Cole. But Cole's contract has not been agreed because the club has not come to an agreement with him. If Cole goes at the end of the season, is that Ancelotti's fault?
The buck stopping with the manager is over-simplistic HF and you know that. A large part of managing is having the players behind you and ours are quite clearly behind the manager. Until that remains, I will support him.
And Messi is definitely left-footed.
Messi is definitely two footed! Brooking was right footed but he worked so hard on his left foot as a kid that it was his preferred foot by the time he broke into the first team. All very good or great players are two footed. Which is why I rate Carlton Cole highly - he hits them with both feet! Diamanti is left footed; Stanislas is right footed which is why they both struggle on the wrong flanks. Villa's Young favours his right foot but is adept with his left too which is why he can play on the wrong flank. Lennon, however, is right footed which is why he looks so ineffective if ever used on the left - because he ALWAYS cuts inside! It isn't rocket engineering Stani!
The players are behind Zola are they? So they are giving their all at the moment are they? Upson and Green are ready to play for Zola in the Fizzy Pop are they? Come off it! Take off the blinkers Stani. The guy is out of his depth!
HF,
Messi is left-footed. If he uses his right foot now and again, this does not mean he is two footed because then we'd all be two footed. We can use our other foot without becoming two-footed. Every penalty Messi has taken has been with his left foot. Every free-kick he has taken has been with his left foot. He has a chronic problem with his left thigh because he is left-footed. The official Barcelona site says he is left-footed. So rocket science or not, I think I'd still understand it.
How can you say that the players are not behind Zola? Upson, Green, Parker, Cole, Behrami, Noble have all been in the media lately saying so. Gold was on Sky today at the training ground saying that he had witnessed this very thing. They are giving their all but their all is not good enough at the moment. That's been my argument all along.
I know the argument. I also know that no player will say on camera that he thinks his manager is a useless twat. Unless he doesn't know he is being filmed, like Upson caught on camera by a fan after the Wolves game saying that the team were trying but lacked organisation and shape. That was from the captain's mouth! Green, Spector, Ilunga, Faubert, Upson, Parker, Behrami, McCarthy, Mido, Ilan, Cole and Kovac are all full internationals. Tomkins and Noble are both U21 internationals. And Zola can't muster enough points to avoid relegation with that lot? It is a terrible indictment Stani.
You do show huge faith in what official sites say. Stanislas is listed as a left winger, despite his right footedness. Messi isn't two footed? The best player in the world? Come on!
HF,
Do you expect me to show faith in tabloids then? I think if I got Lionel to call you and tell you he's left-footed, you'd still disagree!
You don't have to be two-footed to be the best player in the world. Plus, that title is a matter of opinion anyway. I would pick Rooney over him but that's just a personal choice and not because he has a stronger foot....as does Messi.
It's not just about what the players say on camera. You yourself have been reading between the lines of Sullivan's and Zola's comments recently. If you do this to those of the players then it is clear they are behind the manager. It would be absolutely obvious if it was not the case. Diamanti's free-kick against Birmingham; who were they all embracing?
That was a long time ago now Stani. Sullivan had just talked about cutting their wages and Zola had come out in defence of the players. No wonder they were hugging him! Heard the saying, "A friend in need is a friend indeed"? Not much hugging of the manager over the last 6 games!
You can watch the Upson video on YouTube, you don't have to trust to tabloids to hear our captain talking about a lack of organisation. Of course, he didn't know it was being recorded!
Watch the players come off the pitch after the Stoke game and count how many embraced Zola, who stood there rather than running off down the tunnel as you would wrongly have expected him to.
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