Performance and Recovery Position Paper - Coping With Travel

Ohio University

Coaching Education

Performance and Recovery

COED 6340

William Wilson

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The main body of this essay will be to discuss and investigate the ways that professional soccer teams cope with travel. Recovery is a huge part of a player’s fitness and wellbeing, and can have a hugely influential, and often catastrophic effect if not completed properly. The best of the best will have to compete in two high intensity games per week, often with international travel, and sometimes crossing time zones. Recovery following travel is a factor that teams have to consider in their planning. It is an arduous process of constant readjustment, which can be compounded by fatigue and boredom. Some might think that being an international soccer star, being paid millions to play a game you love, and travelling to all sorts of exotic locations is nothing more than fun and games. What must be remembered is that these players are precious commodities of insurmountable value to their clubs, and their bodies are treated like machines. Their limbs are like finely tuned, highly specialised tools, and as such, require constant monitoring and maintenance.

The globalisation of soccer has increased exponentially among the top leagues in Europe since its inception in the 1800s. The last few decades have seen vast amounts of money being poured into the game, and as such, the demand for skills is even higher, leading clubs to search for talent abroad, with the highest bidder bringing in their man. In 1989, Arsenal won the English league without using a single foreign player in the whole season. By 2005, their Valentine’s Day match versus Crystal Palace saw Arsenal list an all foreign starting eleven, with an all foreign bench (Harris, 2006). Six years later in the Premier League, in a game between Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion, there were twenty two different nationalities amongst the twenty two players that took to the field (Magowan, 2011).

Where playing and competing internationally in soccer is nothing new, as is evident by the travelling men’s Canadian team of 1888 toured Britain and Ireland (Harris, 2006), what has changed significantly are the physical demands of the game, including travel and competition. Millions of dollars are at stake, as is professional pride. The effectiveness of recovery is key to maintaining peak performance, as Rountree (2011) writes “In order to receive the benefits of recovery,  - and hence, to get the most out of your training – you must pay as much attention to recovery as you do to your training.” Mental recovery is just as necessary as physical recovery. Trans-Atlantic flights and distance runner-type endurance events can wreak havoc on the body, but also on the brain, as Foster (Rountree, 2011) explains; “When you’re a full-time athlete, it’s actually amazingly boring. A lot of people with physical talent drop out of it because the lifestyle is too constraining. You have to have the discipline to be one of the No Fun Guys – and that’s no fun.”

Reilly et al (2007) note the difficulties of competing internationally:

“Professional athletes based in Europe, such as soccer players, may incur a competitive schedule that includes international representation for their country on another continent (Asia, America or Australia) in between important domestic contests for the club. Such itineraries place a physiological and psychological burden on those athletes who have to adjust to a different time-zone and a different climate and then have to re-adjust back to their home time-zone after the return journey.”

Jet-lag is determined by many individual factors, and where a two hour time zone shift may not have much impact, a three hour shift can have a significant effect. The effect is known as “desynchronization”, (Reilly et al, 2007) with flight duration, and both departure and arrival time playing a key role in how deep the effect is. Some teams that travel to different time zones try to ignore the change in time, and operate on the same clock as they would do back home, as to not disrupt their rhythm. Reilly (2007) writes;

“A strategy used by the national soccer team of Wales when playing Azerbaijan in a World Cup qualifying match in September 2004, was to stay on home time for the duration of the short trip. In this instance, the kick off time of 21:00 hours (17:00 hours on home time) would have suited the strategy. Such an approach is useful if the stay in the new time zone is three days or less and an adjustment of circadian rhythms is not essential.”

In what is the most successful and impressive year in recent soccer history is that of FC Barcelona in 2009. This successful team was labelled the most successful club side ever. To some detractors, it was easy for a squad of the world’s best players, coached by the world’s best coach, and lead by one of the greatest players of all time to achieve what Barcelona achieved. In 2009, Barcelona won six competitive trophies, including; Spanish league title, Spanish Cup, Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, the UEFA Champions League (to crown them the best team in Europe), and the FIFA World Club Cup (to be crowned as the best team on the planet) (FCBarcelona.com, 2009). In that twelve months, Barcelona played sixty four competitive games, with six pre-season friendlies, and one friendly in Kuwait (FCBarcelona.com, 2009). Without factoring in stoppage time, that adds up to 6,570 minutes of soccer. Over ninety minutes, the average outfield player will cover 10km (Gregg, Nash & Hamm, 1999), equating to a combined total of 730km ran if a player were to play every minute of every game. To provide further perspective, that would make for around seventeen and a half marathons. Thirty five of the seventy three games Barcelona played were away games, and sixteen were outside of Spain altogether.

Such an example of extreme physical demands are made even more impressive when it is considered that many Barcelona squad members represented their national teams too. Throughout 2009, in addition to more than sixty games played for Barcelona, their shining star Lionel Messi played ten times for Argentina. In that year alone Messi’s teams played in Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, England, USA, Argentina, Uruguay, UAE, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Kuwait (FCBarcelona.com, 2009). That amounts to fifteen countries across four continents, which could be a lifetime’s worth of travel condensed into one year.

Messi was not alone in this, as most of Barcelona’s players were competing regularly for their national teams, and would have had similar hectic schedules. A new problem arises for the staff at the club when international week beckons. If the team were to travel to play in Russia, then travel back to Spain, all the players would be adjusted and cared for in the same way. For the international games, that is not the case, as players will leave Barcelona to represent their country all over the world, in vastly different climates, time zones, and with very different travel times. One player could fly to China, another to South Africa, and another to Mexico, then all three would reconvene shortly after to represent Barcelona on the weekend.

Sleep is an undervalued commodity. According to Rountree (2011) “Your sleep affects not just your recovery but also your ability to perform to your potential in workouts. When you don’t get adequate sleep, your motor response is dulled, which can compromise your form or ingrain inefficient neuromuscular patterns – bad habits.” During sleep, an athlete consolidates memories and ingrains skills, as well as allowing time for rest and repair to muscles and joints (Rountree, 2011). Without sufficient sleep, an athlete can develop what is known as “sleep debt” (Rountree, 2011). Barcelona, travelling from Spain to United Arab Emirates, would have to contend with jet-lag and an adaptation to a three hour time shift (Timeanddate.com, 2016).

Fatigue, lack of conditioning, lack of mental preparation, all contribute to minor injuries. “More than 3000 injuries are suffered each season by the 2,500 or so professionals in the Premier League and Football League. Each injury keeps a player out of action for an average of four games” (Hawkins, 2004). Where one sprain might not seem like much, the numbers are evidence that they build up, and this can greatly impact the success of the team. To be successful in the modern era, teams have to travel thousands of miles. Germany were the recent champions of the men’s World Cup in Brazil 2014. Through the concept of the aggregation of marginal gains, team organisers did all that they possibly could to remove as much stress and interference from the day to day operations at the training camp. This included many aspects, such as training facilities, security, downtime activities, but the location itself was chosen for two reasons; travel and climate (Honigstein, 2015).

By contrast, England, who had a shambolic tournament, stayed at a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, and had to contend with traffic on the daily commute to training (Wilson, 2014). That acted as a needless and avoidable stressor. The German players stayed at Campo Bahia, and could walk from their villas to the training field (Honigstein, 2015). The location allowed for minimal travel times to the first three games of the German campaign, the only three games guaranteed before elimination begins. The first three games took place in Salvador, Fortaleza, and Recife, which were some of the warmer venues in Brazil (FIFA.com, 2014). It was anticipated that perhaps Germany’s route to the final would take them to some of the colder climates, with the Germans feeling it would be more beneficial to practice and adapt to the warm and climate, something they are not as used to as a group of European based players.

The German squad believes strongly that the selection of the camp location allowed for optimal preparation for the tournament (Honigstein, 2015). For a player, and for anyone involved in the game, the World Cup is the pinnacle of their career. Nothing comes close. With the tournament taking place every four years, it becomes an era defining moment that leaves a legacy in its place. Even the best players may only have one appearance at a World Cup. The planet’s most expensive player, Gareth Bale, transferring from Tottenham to Real Madrid for €100,000,000 (BBC.com, 2013) has never played at a World Cup, and may never do so, as his country, Wales, have qualified only once for the World Cup, back in 1958 (FIFA.com, 2015).

Examining the extraordinary achievements of Barcelona and of Germany, it is clear to see that they have much to contend with off the field. The ninety minutes of playing has become a very small part of their operation as the teams all around the world pour their resources into finding new edges over the opponents. In 2015, IFAB commissioned a rule change allowing for players to wear small tracking devices (FIFA.com, 2015) that record and transmit a whole range of information, from heart rate to force exerted upon landing. Even the balls are becoming ‘smart’. The new Adidas MiCoach Smart Ball (Adidas.com, 2016) records data such as power and swerve applied to the ball upon striking in order to provide training tips to players.

Sleep has become a huge area of research for top teams and athletes in all sports across the planet. In a study conducted by Stanford University using college basketball players (Singer, 2011), upon increasing the players’ sleep times by ninety minutes, it was found that 282 foot sprints were increased by an average of one second, and the accuracy of free throws and three point shots had increased by 9%. In the quest for marginal gains, these equate to significant inches.

The off-field lives of athletes are becoming more regimented and controlled by their clubs, that even their own downtime is becoming organised and regulated but their coaches. Mobile phone apps are used for players to log, in their own time away from the team, their sleep quality, their heart rate, their nutrition, their emotions, and a whole range of other factors that coaches wish to know (Hill, 2016). Some go further, as it has been found that some aspects are not recorded accurately by the players (Singer, 2011), and as such, the Fatigue Science ReadiBand has been developed, which is a wrist band capable of recording sleep quality via the use of sensors (Fleming, 2015).

Professional clubs truly value sleep. At top clubs that have the financial resources, each player has a personalised bed kit, including their own unique mattress, pillow, and blanket (Fleming, 2015). The kit is tailor made, suiting the skin sensitivity, weight, and muscle density, in addition to other factors, of each player. Players use them at home, and when travelling and staying away, hotels are fitted by the club staff so that each player uses their own mattress, blanket, and pillows (Fleming, 2015). Wherever they go in the world, they will be sleeping in the same bed every night. Clubs have even invested in what are known as “Sleep Pods” or “Snooze Boxes”, which again, are personalised to each individual (Fleming, 2015). Sleep pods are useful for naps before or after practice. It has been tradition for many clubs to stay in a hotel the night before home games, but now it has become much more efficient for each player to use their own sleep pod at the training ground on the night before a game.

For travelling teams, jet lag becomes an issue. “the symptoms of jetlag (particularly those due to loss of sleep) are likely to have a de-motivating effect that will in turn impair performance” (Reilly et al, 2007). Travelling eastwards can cause the symptoms of jetlag to be felt more than travelling westwards, and it is recommended to have one day to adjust for every hour in the time difference (Reilly et al). Germany arrived in Brazil six days ahead of their first game (Honigstein, 2015), adequately allowing the players to adapt, avoiding the effects of jetlag. When Barcelona won the Club World Cup in 2015, it was a thirteen hour flight, across eight time zones, for a seven day trip. Barcelona departed at 10:30am and arrived the next day at 8:30am, which would have been 11:30pm by their home time (FCBarcelona.com, 2016).

Research conducted by Charles Sturt University (Fowler, Duffield, & Vaile, 2014) suggests that the effect of travel has a much smaller impact than other factors, such as tactics, player selection, and psychological state. Winning the game is not determined by which team had the best sleep the night before. Through marginal gains, if all else was equal, then sleep quality could make the difference. If every other opponent is ensuring that their players are well rested, it would be disadvantageous to not at least match that. A separate study on the effects of away travel on training loads found that the rate of injuries of soccer players do increase as the season progresses, but not by any concerning amount, and that away travel is marginally, but not significantly, more impeding upon training loads towards the end of the season (Fowler, Duffield, Waterson, & Vaile, 2015).

Both of the aforementioned studies involved professionals playing in Australia. Similar to the United States, Australia has large distances and crosses of time zones for away games. The scope of a team travelling to play around Australia or the US, competing in their regular season would be comparable to a team travelling around Europe. Barcelona’s seven day 2015 trip to Japan included five training sessions, and two matches; a semi-final versus Guangzhou Evergande of China, and the final versus River Plate of Argentina. Both games were won at a stroll, comfortably at 3-0 (FCBarcelona.com, 2015). Both Barcelona and River Plate would have had a lot of adjusting to do in a very short space of time, compared to their semi-final opponents from China, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan. River Plate and Barcelona are much stronger than their Asian counterparts. Eluding to the point made previously; as long as these sides were not incapacitated by their travel from the other side of the globe, their superior quality on the field would be enough to win the game. The point is made even stronger when it is considered that Barcelona only had three days to adjust before their first match, and that River Plate arrived in Japan a week earlier than Barcelona, and even had one extra day of rest before the two teams competed in the final (FCBarcelona.com, 2015).

As a coach of a women’s soccer team that competes nationally, I could rightly feel aggrieved at the lack of funding we have. Sadly, it is the nature of the game and of society, that female teams are often left out in the cold. An equivalent competing men’s team would have considerable funding, as well as paid players. Our players have to pay to play. With more funds and resources, I would certainly look into what we could do to increase and accelerate our recovery. In regards to sleep, there is little need for ideas such as sleep pods, and with England being a small nation, we are usually home from a game in time for dinner.

Using some of the means discovered and researched, it would be entirely possible to use apps to have players log their sleep and other vitals. From my own experience, I have found it tedious and invasive. To ask my players to report to me daily the colour of their urine would be problematic in terms of the respect I currently command. It is my belief that this group in particular would feel as if I have no trust in them. They have the will to perform and the will to succeed, so they won’t be going to bed at ridiculous times on game days.

One option would be for education of recovery techniques, nutrition, and the importance of sleep. Flyers, videos, presentations, and seminars could inform the team of better practice. It is quite possible that some may lie, which could be for many reasons, including; they don’t want to be found out for having an unhealthy lifestyle, perhaps it happens so infrequently that they view one incident as inconsequential, or maybe they will be looking to impress and as such will log that they awoke at 6:30 am, completed thirty minutes of yoga, ate a healthy nutritious breakfast, jogged five kilometres in a good time, and while they were at it, fed the hungry and healed the sick. If, as a club, we were paying our athletes to represent us, we would certainly have more sway over their private lives. In reality, it is quite the reverse. Their love of the game is what drives them to pay a substantial amount of money, and to sacrifice an enormous amount of free time to be part of this team. For that, I have huge admiration for them. Any attempts on my behalf to regiment and dictate their sleeping and resting habits would create a backlash, as it would seem I had stepped over a line. Education is different, and I believe many would be interested and would try to apply the principles discussed, but I certainly won’t be forcing them.

Marginal gains are becoming more and more important in professional sport. Everybody is looking for that extra inch that can be gained over their opponents. Soccer is big business, and those inches could cost millions. It appears that sleep duration and quality are just more inches to be gained. Rest helps to replenish the mind and the body, allowing for recovery and consolidation of skills. Improving sleep can lead to improved performance. When it comes to travel, the top teams appear to be figuring it out. The staff are well aware of the distances and time zones, and do all possible to minimalize any negative effect associated with jet lag or desynchronization. The concept of sleep pods and luxury resorts do little to help the image of a pampered footballer, but when it leads to World Cups and Champions Leagues, there is little regard towards the opinions of those not in the know.

If all else is equal, one factor such as sleep could make the difference. All teams are striving to keep up with the leaders, and so it is unlikely that there will be team so far behind on their sleep that it costs them the game. A team that slept for nine hours on personalised mattresses will not beat a team that slept for seven hours on standard hotel beds, if the latter is a far superior team, both technically and tactically. Like most marginal gains off the field, there is no substitute for quality. However, if a team did not adequately prepare to counter the effects of jet lag, has had a very rough sleep, and have had no time to adapt to a significant change in time zone and so are playing at around 3:00am home time, such factors could be detrimental enough to impede performance significantly that the game is effectively handed to the opposition.

In essence, sleep is about preparing thoroughly, and doing all possible to not be at a disadvantage. If the opposition has not acted in a similar manner, the “not a disadvantage” becomes an advantage. To not value sleep would be shooting yourself in the foot, or within the soccer lexicon, an “own goal.”

References

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Adidas. (2016). Adidas miCoach SMART BALL - White | Adidas UK. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.adidas.co.uk/micoach-smart-ball/G83963.html

BBC. Gareth Bale: The history of the world transfer record. (2013). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/23903470

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FIFA. (2015). Introduction of a Quality Programme for Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems. Retrieved April 22, 2016, from http://www.fifa.com/development/news/y=2015/m=3/news=introduction-of-a-quality-programme-for-electronic-performance-and-tra-2564815.html

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FC Barcelona. (2015). Barcelona Squad En Route to Japan. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/fc-barcelona-squad-en-route-to-japan

FC Barcelona. (2015). Inside View FC Barcelona At The FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2015. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/inside-view-fc-barcelona-at-the-fifa-club-world-cup-japan-2015

Fleming, N. (2015). How science is fine-tuning our elite footballers. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/aug/02/science-fine-tuning-elite-footballers

Fowler, P., Duffield, R., & Vaile, J. (2014). Effects of Domestic Air Travel on Technical and Tactical Performance and Recovery in Soccer. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance IJSPP, 9(3), 378-386. doi:10.1123/ijspp.2013-0484

Fowler, P., Duffield, R., Waterson, A., & Vaile, J. (2015). Effects of regular away travel on training loads, recovery, and injury rates in professional Australian soccer players. International Journal of Sports Physiological Performance, 10(5), 546-552.

Gregg, L., Nash, T., & Hamm, M. (1999). The champion within: Training for excellence. Burlington, NC: JTC Sports.

Harris, N. (2006). The foreign revolution: How overseas footballers changed the English game. London: Aurum.

Hawkins, R. (2004). The official FA guide to fitness for football. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Hill, D. (2016). Monitoring Athletes Taking Advantage of Technology. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from https://www.csipacific.ca/wp-content/pdfs/pp/performance-point-TID-1403-monitoring.pdf

Honigstein, R. (2015). Das Reboot: How German Football Reinvented Itself and Conquered The World. London: Yellow Jersey Press.

Magowan, A. (2011). Blackburn   2 - 0   West Brom. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9366756.stm

Reilly, T. (2007). The science of training – soccer: A scientific approach to developing strength, speed and endurance. London: Routledge.

Reilly, T., Atkinson, G., Edwards, B., Waterhouse, J., Akerstedt, T., Davenne, D. Wirz-Justice, A. (2007). Coping with jet-lag: A Position Statement for the European College of Sport Science. European Journal of Sport Science, 7(1). 1-7. doiL10.1080/17461390701216823

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Wilson, J. (2014). World Cup 2014: Germany's purpose-built training camp has given them extra edge. Retrieved April 19, 2016, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/germany/10962216/World-Cup-2014-Germanys-purpose-built-training-camp-has-given-them-extra-edge.html

The Challenge of the Challenge: Why Pep Has Nothing To Prove

With the announcement of Guardiola's decision to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season and move to Manchester City in the summer, many journalists and pundits have felt the need to give us their opinion on the matter. A common recurring sentiment is that if Pep wanted to prove he is the best, he should be moving to a team much lower down the table, rather than the already fantastic, unlimited resources of Man City. Deep down, many people believe that they could win trophies if they went to Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich etc. Huge finances available, and a large squad of top quality players, so it's easy, right? All one would need to do is sit atop the throne of the club and make decisions, much akin to the armchair of hindsight that most of us have in front of our TVs, as we pass comment on what a player or a team should have done. I mean seriously, what could really go wrong at one of Europe's top clubs? It should be a walk in the park, and any of us could do it, no problem.

That is quite an ass kicking to suffer in your own home.

This is the common misconception that managers like Guardiola, Mourinho, Klopp, Pellegrini, Wenger et al. have easy jobs. Really? Lately, Guardiola is complaining about how the German press, one paper in particular, has not asked him a question about football for three years. These men have every detail of their lives scrutinised by journalists that have an apparent sense of smuggery and self-righteousness. Just look at the stress Van Gaal has been under at Manchester United. Things aren't going so great, admittedly, and yet it seems as if the whole world is about to go into meltdown. Van Gaal has stated that it is completely unfair on his family to have to read in the paper every day about how he is going to be sacked or replaced. No one else, except for maybe the leader of a country, is put under so much unnecessary stress each and every day of their life. And the one time Van Gaal retaliated, he called a journalist fat, to which the reporter became huffy and wrote a very catty article about how Van Gaal should be able to accept criticism. The British public responded with the sentiment that journalists "can dish it out, but can't take it".

So let's examine why Pep has nothing to prove, not to himself or his family, and especially not to you or I. Pep is not in competition with any of us plebeians. His Man City team are not likely to be drawn in the cup next season against my U9s, nor am I likely to encounter a Man City V one week with my five-a-side team. This is a man that is responsible for creating the best club side that the world has even seen. His Barcelona not only dominated, but revolutionised and brought football forward into a new era. That's not enough for some people, as anyone with a team that contains Messi, and has access to the finest products of La Masia, should be able to win the Champions League multiple times. My vision of these detractors are people that play too much Football Manager, and believe that running a club is simply down to choosing a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, and buying a couple big names for £40million, as well as maybe one or two decent youth products.

Van Gaal showing his characteristic happy face.

Sam Allardyce once said that he should be given a shot at Real Madrid, but as he is not fashionable, he will never be given the chance. I would love to see that happen, as it would be so thoroughly compelling. We could learn so much about the game and about management if ever that were to happen. Look at how many managers over the years have done well, and then faded into obscurity. You just have to go back through the last fifteen years of the Premier League to see managers that bring a team up from obscurity, usually the league below, or even lower down the table, get them into the top half, top six, maybe even top four, and go on a good cup run. There are many that have done this; Paul Lambert, Martin O'Neil, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Mick McCarthy, Mark Hughes, Nigel Adkins, Tony Mowbray, Brian McDermott, Paul Jewell. The list goes on and on. I am not denying that what they have achieved isn't remarkable. The smaller the budget, the more impressive. The crapper the town, the more amazing the achievement. What I'm saying is, they probably couldn't dominate the same way that Pep has, if they were given the same opportunities.

You've got to be something truly special to be successful at one of the top four clubs in the top five leagues in Europe. The quality of leagues will fluctuate each season, and the top four is hardly fixed, but to achieve long term, sustained success there, you have to be the best of the best. And this is the foundation of my argument, of which I seek to convince you, that it is far easier to get a team from the bottom half of the table into the top half of the table, than it is to get a team from third or second place into first. Surely it's more difficult to move up ten places than it is to move up two, right?

I'm going to first examine that with some crude numbers. Simplified for effect, here are the teams that have finished in the top four positions in the top five leagues in Europe over the last ten years, including league wins (red) and Champions League wins (blue).

Premier League:
Arsenal 10
Chelsea 9 3 1
Man Utd 9 5 1
Man City 5 2
Liverpool 5
Spurs 2

La Liga:
Barcelona 10 6 4
Real Madrid 10 3 1
Valencia 6
Atletico Madrid 5 1
Sevilla 3
Villareal 2
Athletic Bilbao 1
Real Sociedad 1
Malaga 1
Osasuna 1

Bundesliga:
Bayern Munich 10 6 1
Schalke 7
Bayer Leverkusen 5
Borussia Dortmund 4 2
Werder Bremen 4
Wolfsburg 2 1
Borussia Monchengladbach 2
Stuttgart 2 1
Hamburg 2
Hannover 1
Hertha Berlin 1

Serie A:
AC Milan 7 1 1
Juventus 6 4
Inter Milan 6 5 1
Roma 6
Fiorentina 5
Lazio 3
Napoli 3
Udinese 2
Sampdoria 1
Chievo 1

Ligue 1:
Lyon 9 3
Marseille 7 1
PSG 5 3
Lille 5 1
Bordeaux 3 1
Monaco 2
Toulouse 2
St. Etienne 1
Nice 1
Montpellier 1 1
Auxerre 1
Nancy 1
Rennes 1
Lens 1

Please note that top four finishes do not always equate to Champions League qualification. The first number indicates the amount of top four finishes. If there is a second number in red, it indicates the amount of league titles won in that period. If there is a third number in blue, it indicates how many times the Champions League was won.

An average of ten different teams across the last ten years have finished in top four places in the top five leagues. In England it was only six, whereas in France there have been thirteen. An even smaller share of the top four teams have actually won the title, averaging at just under four different teams to be crowned champions in the past ten seasons. From the ten seasons listed, the Champions League was won by seven different teams. Five times it was won by a Spanish club, and four of those were by Barcelona. Two of the Barcelona victories were with Guardiola in charge. The trophy hasn't been with a French club since Marseille won it in 1993. In twenty five years, the Champions League or European Cup has only been won by a team outside the top five leagues just three times; Porto in 2004, Ajax in 1995, and Red Star Belgrade in 1991. Before the 1990s, there was more of a level playing field, but only just. It's also worth mentioning that Guardiola won the cup with Barcelona in 1992 as a player.

So we can see that getting into that top four is a fairly difficult task. It's evidently far easier in France than it is in England. In England it seems like a pretty much closed shop. Some seasons there are pretenders that go all the way, only to fall at the final hurdles. Leicester, so far in 2015/16 are doing exceptionally well, and we'd rather see them win the league than Arsenal or Man City, but history tells us that they probably won't do it. What a team like Leicester, or any of the other pretenders over the last ten years, such as Everton, Aston Villa, West Ham, Newcastle, Bolton, and even Blackburn need, is for the regular contenders to have an awful season. Chelsea are doing just that. Manchester United and Liverpool are struggling. This leaves just Arsenal, Manchester City, and Spurs, who are all doing okay, but not exceptionally. Leicester are doing incredibly, and good luck to them, but can they keep it up? If they do win the league, can they compete again next year? How many times do they have to challenge for the title before they are considered to not be punching above their weight?

The standard that we judge dominance by in football is five out of eight. If a team can win five league titles in eight seasons, then they have dominated. In that time, another team cannot win the title back to back. Bayern achieved six titles out of ten, which is a great ratio, but considering Dortmund won two back to back titles in that time, 2011 and 2012, it's not true domination. They did, however, defeat Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League final, and have won the Bundesliga three times running since then. There could be a new period of Bayern domination on the horizon, and Guardiola would have been a huge part of that. Inter Milan won five Serie A titles without interruption, starting in 2005 and culminating in 2010 with a Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich. Many will feel that those titles were tarnished, as Inter's main competitors suffered hugely after the match fixing scandal. Inter were deserved winners, and that can't be disputed, but they were fighting against wounded opponents. Barcelona achieved a good five out of eight, ranging from 2008/09 to 2014/15, where they were interrupted by both Madrid sides. In that time, they won three Champions League titles and embarrassed bitter Rivals Real Madrid several times, including a 6-2 win in the Bernabeu, and a 5-0 win in the Nou Camp, both with Pep as manager. To add more to Barca's dominance under Guardiola, they set a new record high 99 points accumulated in a La Liga season, and became the first team ever to win six trophies in one calendar year. Throughout these same years, Barcelona have been crowned world champions three times, two of them coming under Pep, and are the most successful club in that competition.

The definition of success depends largely on the targets that you set yourself, which is influenced by so many factors. Just look at any kind of long distance race. You will see the professionals competing to win and to hit personal bests. Those at the back may just be happy to finish a race without dying. I'm more the latter, and there are many people in between. An old man in his fifties or sixties may complete a marathon in seven hours, finishing near the back, but could be thrilled with that, having perhaps never ran so far before, and maybe raising a significant amount of money along the way. To a professional, seven hours is woefully embarrassing. The same is true in football. Teams that are promoted into the top division are often just happy to finish above the bottom three. No newly promoted side from the Championship will be upset if they don't win the Premier League within their first season, or even their first five seasons. Mid-table is a wonderful achievement for such a team. Top six would be amazing. Top four, unheard of. Champions? Not in this day and age. Obviously we have the rise of Leicester City this season, and Hoffenheim who shocked the Bundesliga a few years back.

Playing the game just like it's FIFA on Xbox. Easy.

What all this goes to show is just how hard it is to break into the elite circles. In England, it is supremely difficult, with only six teams claiming a top four place in the last ten seasons. Only three of those six have won the league in that time, and twice has an English team won the Champions League in those same years. The way that Spurs and Man City crashed the party was by spending huge sums of money, often outspending their competitors. They had to close the gap. Spurs and Man City have also tried and failed many times to find the right combination of players and manager. Liverpool, since losing their consistent top four status, have been scrambling to find someone to lead them back to where they feel they belong. Now even with the money that Man City have spent, it took them four seasons to win the title, and three attempts to qualify from the group stage of the Champions League. In 2008 they spent £32.5million on Robinho, breaking the British transfer record. The following season they spent over £100million on players, only to finish in fifth place. This is just a very small indication of the amount of investment that needs to be made to close the gap and find those inches.

Listed below are the teams that have been included in the Premier League in the last ten years.

Manchester United 10
Liverpool 10
Arsenal 10
Spurs 10
Chelsea 10
Aston Villa 10
Everton 10
Man City 10
Newcastle 9
Fulham 9
West Ham 9
Sunderland 8
Wigan 8
West Brom 7
Stoke 7
Bolton 7
Blackburn 7
Portsmouth 6
Swansea 4
Hull 4
Norwich 4
Middlesbrough 4
Birmingham 4
QPR 3
Reading 3
Wolves 3
Crystal Palace 2
Burnley 2
Charlton 2
Southampton 2
Cardiff 1
Blackpool 1
Derby 1
Sheffield United 1
Watford 1
Leicester 1

That shows that over ten years, thirty six different teams have competed in a Premier League season. That's almost enough to have two leagues. Six teams have only spent one season in the league, and eight teams have spent all ten seasons in the league. There have been three different champions, in Man Utd, Man City, and Chelsea. Remember from earlier that only six of these teams have finished once or more in the top four. Two of them, Chelsea and Manchester United, have both won one Champions League.

Getting into the Premier League is a difficult task. Staying in the Premier League is a difficult task. Finishing in the top half of the Premier League is a difficult task. Finishing in the top four of the Premier League is a difficult task. Winning the Premier League is a difficult task. Dominating Premier League titles is a difficult task. Winning the Champions League is a difficult task.

The above table shows the amount of places available depending upon your target in the Premier League. Seventeen teams can avoid relegation, whereas only one can win it. This may be obvious, and some may feel I am insulting their intelligence, but there is a reason for it. I am breaking things down and moving up slowly. To avoid relegation, you need to be better than three teams. To win the league, you need to be better than nineteen. Again, simple maths, but it does illustrate the size of the task.

FLUKE!

It's quite easy comparatively, although no mean feat, to become one of the best. You have to copy them, essentially. I am over simplifying things and will expand upon this later. To beat the best, to be the champion, you have to be better than the best. You need to improve in areas that they can't even consider. You have to be forward thinking. From personal experience, I have made many crap teams become average, and many average teams become good. The people remember me fondly, and I do feel that it was a successful period. As a quick example, my 2001 Girls team in Mexico. I was with them for three six month seasons. In the first season, they overachieved by making the playoffs when playing in a league that was a little too difficult for them as it required them to play up an age group due to low numbers. In the second season, it was more age appropriate, though we still had ten year olds playing in a league with fourteen year olds. We were playing in a 2000 league, and had just two 2001 players. We occasionally borrowed one or two 2000 players, but the large majority of the team was made up of 2002 and 2003 players, with some 2004s and even a 2005. So no one expected anything of us. In that season, we lost just one regular season game, playing the whole time without a recognised goalkeeper. How did we do it? We worked on shape, game understanding, ball retention, and defending. We went into the playoffs with a strange sense of optimism, winning the quarter final, and then having a horrific experience in the semi, which had nothing to do with football, but that's another story for another time. Just through a more inclusive management style, a better organised team, improved team spirit, better educated players, we jumped way up the league to come third out of fourteen. What an achievement! To get to first place, however, or to progress to and win the final, although apparently only inches away, was actually lightyears. I had made the players good, and I had made the team good, but they weren't great, not yet. I had unfinished business out there.

So why won't a manager like Allardyce ever be selected by a top four club? His pound for point ratio is incredible, and makes him the shrewdest manager that the Premier League has ever seen. What Big Sam did at Bolton and then at Blackburn was incredible, but he won't ever be England manager, and whenever Abramovich fires a successful coach for not winning a game, he never considers Big Sam. Like I said earlier, I'd love to see him given a chance at a club like that, but it won't happen. He's dirty, he's unattractive, he's pragmatic, he's hard working. I'd say he is just as ruthless and driven as Pep and Mourinho, so what's missing? It's hard to say, and I think it is a contribution of a few different things. Perhaps it is because he has never broken the top four, has a limited trophy haul, is not used to working with star players in their prime, and does not administer attacking and intricate football. Allardyce at Barcelona just wouldn't go down with the fans. They'd have visions of Pique launching the ball forward to Neymar, and expecting Suarez to score off the knock downs. Messi would be too short to be in the squad. Or would that actually happen? Would Sam, with those players at his disposal, not play to their strengths? When asked, he's always maintained that's what he'd do. That's why he is notorious for long ball football at his clubs, because he is playing to their strengths.

Does it take a lot more skill to teach and to coach the tiki taka of Barcelona and Spain than the long ball of traditional England? Hell yes it does! Trying to get players to play with freedom, confidence, and yet have the high levels of discipline that they do takes incredible skill. Have a look at any park on a Sunday morning, and you'll see many short term gain coaches telling their big defender to hoof it to the fast kid up front. How many of them have the patience and the know-how to work at combination play, overlaps, third man runs, positional rotation, false nine etc? That's hard, it really is. Pep didn't just coach Barcelona well, he coached them to be the best team that there ever was. He's just about to win his third successive title with Bayern in his third and final season, unless things completely implode, being eight points clear at the top with only nineteen out of the thirty four games being played. In his first season in Munich, they won the title by nineteen points, then by ten in the second season. That's surely impressive in anyone's book, but to some it won't be. Bayern are a super power of world football in what can sometimes be a one horse league.

An amazing footballing education right there.

To many, being a football manager seems to be the easiest job in the world. I know from the amount of people who tell me how to do it better. The thing is though, I have the balls to do it. I put my neck on the line. I risk my reputation, I risk my livelihood. I travel across the globe in the pursuit of success. That's the first step. How many could actually do that? It's far easier to criticise from the safety of the stands, or even from a sofa, fireside, placed in front of a television. Get off your fat lazy backside and have a go, or quit your whining. But that won't happen. We don't want to open ourselves up to criticism. We don't want to leave our comfort zone. No no no. These people genuinely do believe that managing football is as simple as putting the eleven best players into their positions, psyching them up a bit before the game, and then shouting occasional instructions from the sidelines. It's laughable. The difference in perception between the experts and the public is huge, and this is true for every industry on the planet. But what do experts know anyway?

The day to day running of a football club takes into account so much more than just pondering over your starting eleven. You cannot ever turn off coach mode. It's always on. When you're watching a movie with your family, when you're having a dump, when you're at work (if you're only part time, or have many teams). It's always on your mind. Every time the phone goes, you wonder what bad news about the game, a player, the team, that it could be. You put off your own personal ambitions and needs in order to develop the team. Guardiola is obsessed with football. Most top managers are. Sleep is a luxury, and even that is constantly interrupted by the anxiety that the job creates. Pep would often spend hours watching and rewatching games during the immediate hours after the final whistle. It's unhealthy. The average man cannot devote that much time to football, and will not have enough know-how to spot the tactical nuances that can defeat heavy weights like Real Madrid, Atletico, and Valencia.

You'll be amazed at how many teams and players get this
completely wrong at all levels of the game.

It's easy when you're spending money, right? If you've never done it, you have no idea just how difficult it is to spend someone else's money, or to manage someone else's budget. Shame, guilt, fear, anxiety etc. although not tangible, are real emotions that can cloud judgement. To buy Neymar was a huge gamble. It was a massive amount of money, and what if he was a flop? He'd not proven before that he could hack it in Europe, and had many doubters. That's pressure that we will struggle to relate to.

In the sextuple year, Barca used twenty seven different players, playing a total of sixty six games. In the same period, Real Madrid played forty eight games between twenty six players. This means that Barca had to fit in eighteen more competitive games that year than Real Madrid, and only used one more player than their bitter rivals. Although hard to find stats on 10th and 20th place, Deportivo La Coruna and Xerez, one could rightfully assume they they did not play more than forty or so games that season, having not been in European competition, and probably not progressing very far in the cup. It's a lot to ask of one group of players. Furthermore, lest we not forget, Barcelona can never take their foot off the accelerator. All top teams know this. Every game you play, every time you come up against an opponent, you are their biggest game of the season. You are the team that everyone wants to beat, and that everyone wants to try their best against. One could perhaps make the case that some Spanish teams do roll over and die when Barca and Real come to town, as they know they will get nothing out of it, but that does more to point towards the inequality of the Spanish market than it does to detract from Barca's dominance. Out of those fifty nine games, how many of them were cup finals? Literally, six of them. Six of those were cup finals. Figuratively, most of them. If you don't bring your A game to Barcelona, you're in for a sore bum. Even if you do bring your A game, you quite often still go home with a sore bum.

Okay, okay, okay. So Pep's Barcelona was perhaps the best engineered footballing side of all time. A lot of them came through the youth ranks together, have ate, slept, and drank together since they were kids, and have been brought up playing the Barcelona way, having such a mantra ingrained in their brains. That means that pretty much any half decent coach could go in there and do well, essentially working on auto-pilot, while the team picks up trophy after trophy. Xavi and Iniesta had a telepathic like connection, and with Messi's wizardry, what impact could a coach possibly have? Well, many would describe Frank Rijkaard as a half decent coach. He did win the Champions League in 2006. Got to be at least half decent to do that. What was Guardiola doing in the years before managing the Barcelona first team? He was managing their reserves, and educating players to see part of his grand vision of amazing football. He was essentially sewing the seeds for the one day he would get his chance in the hotseat. Did he inherit a quality team? Absolutely, but that's only a job half done. He had to make some big decisions, which involved stars like Ibrahimovic, Deco, Eto'o, Ronaldinho, and by and large got them all right. He brought up youngsters like Busquets, who then became an integral part of his team. He began to play centre midfielders in defence, as it meant the range of passing from the back would be better, allowing penetration to occur quicker and more effectively, whilst improving the ability to play backwards and recycle. This is fine tuning.

"A long time ago, we used to be friends, but I...
haven't thought of you lately at all"

I do find myself often making comparisons between football and rock bands. You don't have to be too into music to get these. Why do the songs of the biggest bands still have a legacy and a relevance today? Why did bands like The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Deep Purple etc. out-sell every other band from their time and our time? Because of their absolute undeniable quality. Take Queen for example. Freddy Mercury died a long time ago, and they haven't done anything new since. All four members of that band were virtuoso performers that had an incredible talent for song writing and performing. Other bands from the time would pop up and offer us some good hits, some that are still played today, and once or twice they could compete with the big bands. Think The Cult, famously known for She Sells Sanctuary. It's a cracking song, and they have a couple others I like. I often get that riff in my head, and love to drive to it. It's like that one time that Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League. That one time, they were good enough. That one time, they were the best. Did that one time cement their place as a great team? Absolutely not. They couldn't retain it, and could no longer challenge at the top. Rovers weren't good enough for long enough. Try reading any of the following without a song popping into your head:

Oooh I need your love, Babe...
Strawberry fields...
It's been a hard day's night...
Living is easy with eyes closed...
Sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman...
She said she loves you, and you know that can't be bad...
I got a ticket to ride...
When I was young but so much younger than todaaaayyyy...
Hey Jude, don't make it bad...
All you need is love...
Here comes the sun...
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away...
You say goodbye, and I say hello...
Well she was just seventeen, if you know what I mean...
In the town, where I was born, there lived a man...
I am the eggman, they are the eggmen...
What would you do if I sang out of tune...
Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...
Love, love me do...
Here come old flat top, he come groovin' up slowly...

Most people reading would have read a lot of those in the voices of either Lennon, McCartney, or Harrison. If it hasn't had such an effect on you, and you don't know what any of it means, these are all hit songs that are still well known today (apparently), which were all released by the same band. THAT PLAYED THEIR OWN INSTRUMENTS!!!! AND WROTE THEIR OWN SONGS!!!! AND WEREN'T SELECTED BY THE AUDIENCE TEXTING TO CHOOSE A FAVOURITE!!!! AND HAD NO INVOLVEMENT WITH SIMON COWELL WHATSOEVER!!!! To those who are twenty three and under, you may need to take a moment to recover after reading what, although shocking, is actually true. That's greatness. That's life changing, Earth shattering greatness. The Cult would be the first to tell you that they do not match up to The Beatles, but you would be hard pressed to not find yourself building up speed if listening to Fire Woman on full blast while driving down the motorway at night. Pep's Barcelona weren't just good once, they weren't just great a few times, they became the best ever, and proved it time and time again.

Just like these guys were part of a revolution in music,

Pep's Barcelona were part of a revolution in football.

There's definitely a case for right manager, right time. This process is repeated in the English Championship until a club finds a fit for their players, and makes a run into the Premier League. Inevitably they get relegated a year or two later, the manager looks for a new club, and fails to repeat that same success anywhere else. Could Mourinho have dominated in the same way Guardiola did? I certainly believe that Mourinho would have been very successful at Barcelona. like he has been anywhere, but football would have been worse off for it. I have studied a lot of Guardiola's work and Mourinho's work, as a lot of coaches have. Mourinho is pragmatic, systematic, obsessed, maniacally brilliant. I have found books and videos of him to be mind blowing. He wants to win, and is very good at it. He has a playing philosophy, an idealistic view of how to play the game, and is an incredible man manager. He's brilliant. What he hasn't done is change football. His teams play a lot of park the bus or counter-attack. While they have been very good at it, it's not necessarily revolutionary. 

Look back at the way football has changed or been influenced by certain trends over the decades. There have been key points where a progression was marked that began a new era. It usually coincides with a club team doing fantastically well, which then has a huge impact on not just the league, but also the national team. Total Football, brought in by the Dutch and pioneered in Amsterdam, changed football. Ajax won three consecutive European Cups. For two seasons, they were unbeaten at home, winning forty six out of forty six games. This made other Dutch teams like PSV and Feyenoord stronger, and turned the Dutch national team into the greatest side to not win a World Cup, being defeated twice in the final. The man given the credit for Totaalvoetbal is Rinus Michels, taking his philosophy from Ajax to Barcelona and the Dutch national team. Was he solely responsible for it? Of course not. Was he influenced largely by others? Absolutely. Does that make what he and his teams did any less special? Not at all. Credit should be given to the Austrian Wunderteam, and the Magical Magyars of Hungary. Michels played under Jack Reynolds, who was an early purporter of this type of football. He refined it at Ajax, and from there emerged a world great in the form of Johann Cruyff. Twenty years later, Cruyff is the manager of a very successful Barcelona team, that featured Guardiola in the midfield. Twenty years later, Guardiola takes a lot of those ideas for when he is manager of Barcelona, creating tiki taka (though that was never his term) and out comes another world great in Lionel Messi. Fabulous how the cycle repeats itself all the way from Jack Reynolds to Lionel Messi.

Any coach could achieve these numbers with this team, right?

For anyone who has read Malcolm Gladwell's book, you will know what I mean with an Outliers reference. For anyone who has not had such a mind boggling experience, you owe it to y

ourself to discover the work. No example I could use could possibly do it justice. If we follow on along the lines of the right place right time theory, we see how that has been true throughout all of history. Everyone who achieved greatness did so because they had the opportunity to do so. They also worked incredibly hard and had an obsession with their talent, but none of that could have been realised without opportunity. Bill Gates, for example, the brilliant mind that he is, would not be where he is today if he didn't happen to live within walking distance of one of the only universities in the world to have such an advanced computer, that was open to the public and to students to use as they please. Sure, he had to then take that opportunity, work really hard, and fail many times, but he still had the opportunity. Do you think young Pep at La Masia as a schoolboy, crying himself to sleep as he missed his family, knew that one day he would change the game forever? Of course he didn't, but had he not been introduced to football at a young age, allowed to play in his hometown, spotted by Barca scouts, given the La Masia education, been coached by Cruyff, Robson, and many others, played with Romario, Ronaldo, Stoichkov etc al. he would not be the great coach he is today. It's all about opportunity. It doesn't detract from his abilities or achievements at all to point this out, as we are all largely products of our environment. What it does show is that he was absolutely, 100% the only man who could have achieved this, and that Barcelona was 100% the only club he could have achieved it at. 

Will he be a success at Manchester City? Depends how you define success. If winning the Premier League more often than not is success, then he will probably do that. If making Manchester City a dominating force in Europe is the goal, then no one has ever done that before. Nigel Clough took Nottingham Forest European victory two years running. That was amazing. It's a completely different era nowadays, so difficult to make comparisons on what would be easier to do, and would be futile and pointless. Pep will have seemingly unlimited resources, be moving into a team that already has plenty of stars, including a lot of Spanish speakers, that knows the league well, and will be desperate for his tutelage (apart from Yaya Toure), and should, barring a massive cock up, be playing in the Champions League next season. It seems like some pretty good ingredients to build a dominating force.                                                                        

  

Still sells, right? Just like Rovers' 94/95 DVD.

It's the final inch that is so hard to get. At the top, it comes down to inches and seconds. Anything could affect those tiny seconds. There are millions of decisions to be made along the way, and each wrong one could add precious seconds to your time. You could get it 95% right, which under most circumstances would be incredible, but your opponent may get it 96% right. How do you improve that tiny bit more? How do you squeeze out that extra drop of juice? How do you make up that ground when you're already giving it your all? Pep knows, and he will show us.

Further reading

A brief glimpse into a Mourinho training session. Jose loves his marginal gains. The coaching staff and players wear different kit so that coaches can be easily distinguished when training. Probably not the first coach to do this, but not enough make this small adjustment. My players train in red and black, whereas I sport this wonderful orange and blue number. Mourinho knows several languages, something that we should all be better at, thus making him an expert communicator. I would now feel confident taking a job in Spain or Latin America, but what about if something comes up in France or Germany? They wouldn't wait three months for me to learn the language before I begin coaching. Mourinho has a vision, creates intensity, commands respect, creates a bond with his team using his Us v The World mentality. He's simply brilliant.

Special One Interview. Speaks for itself.

Guardiola working with Bayern at a training camp in Doha. This clip was famous for how intense he was. If you listen carefully, you can make out bits of English and Spanish in between his German. Notice that both Pep and Jose coach with their notes. Both the FA and USSF would fail you for that.

Thierry Henry briefly explaining Pep's genius. This is like porn to coaches.

This one, in Spanish, provides some examples of Guardiola's playing philosophy in action at Bayern Munich.

An interview with Pep while at Bayern, explaining some of his ideas, showing already his impressive command of the English language.

http://gladwell.com/outliers/outliers-q-and-a-with-malcolm/ - Read this and buy the book. You owe it to yourself. Your understanding of how success becomes a reality will be forever changed for the better.

Sky Sports documentary based on the book Another Way of Winning. This book explains in some detail the neurotic genius of Guardiola. Truly fascinating to anyone with an interest in football.

Knowing and Managing Yourself

For this latest module at Ohio, we are focussed on management and leadership. These are very important areas in the coaching world. Our task is to take a group to a new destination. Of course that is leading and managing. We started off with a lot of self reflection questions. Below are my answers.

Part 1

How do you cope with failure? – Failure is necessary, although sometimes difficult to take. I calm down and remind myself of the bigger picture.  Reassess and see if changes need to be made. I try to stick to the plan, and always work towards that end goal. We have to accept that we can’t win all the time, and that you can play the game of your life and still lose. Sometimes it’s just not your day, but you shouldn’t lose sight of that end goal, and keep striving to achieve it.

What are the ways you bring out the best in others? – I make them believe that they are capable. I see my job not as someone who shows them how to do it, but who finds it within them and helps them unlock it. I use a lot of goal setting. Work backwards from the end result, and take measures to achieve the steps along the way. All the little victories add up, and with praise and encouragement along the way, players will get closer to that end result.

How do you handle pressure and adversity? –Very well. There isn’t a person alive who hasn’t had to deal with pressure and adversity, it’s just some see it as a learning opportunity or a challenge to overcome, and others take glory and comfort in the sympathy of others for the bad things that happen to them. Crying about it won’t get me there. Sympathy will not help me. When adversity is experienced as a group, you can use it to bind you together, and to strengthen you as a unit. Shared adversity gives you something in common that can ignite a fire within. I handle pressure with confidence. The situation or the environment should not and does not dictate how I will act. I only consider what is necessary, and disregard that which holds no bearing.

How do you exhibit patience and persistence? – With constant reminders of the key performance indicators. If achieving your goals was easy, it would be no fun. You will have to make mistakes, you will have to fail, and you will have to experience pain. I know that, and I also know that it is all worth it for what I want to gain. We must continue, despite the setbacks that come our way. I do not lose my temper (though I sometimes pretend I have to get a reaction out of the players) and remain clear of thought, often free of emotion. A loss is annoying, and a setback is frustrating, but if you give up, you don’t deserve that success you want. Winners never quit, and quitters never win.

How do you create balance in your life each day? – I believe I am bad at this, as I feel like I am always in coaching mode. My phone is always close by, and I am always quick to respond to team matters. I go to the gym five or six times a week, I practice my languages, I read, go out socially, and try to adhere to a timetable and a structure. I definitely need to be far better at letting time go by and not worrying so much.

How do you give respect to others? – By being honest, upfront, genuine, humble. I lead how I believe I would like to be lead. My game is not to belittle or embarrass players, but to set the bar high, and make them truly believe that they can get there, if they put their mind to it. I don’t lie. The truth is the easiest thing to remember, and we have lots to remember as coaches. Actions do speak louder than words, and where some players may think I am hard at the beginning, they will release I care about them when they begin to notice the little things, like the encouragement, the support, and the level of preparation. Some players act disrespectfully, but if you retaliate with disrespect, then you are just as bad. Counter it with respect, so you are not in the wrong. Be polite and lead by example.

How do you deal with criticism? – Ascertain where it is coming from and why they may be saying it. I was bullied a lot as a kid, which created a quiet and shy nature. I had to develop a thick skin. There’s two main ways that I deal with criticism, and it really does depend on the source. Is it a parent whose kid didn’t play? They’re upset and emotional, I know best, I always act fairly and with the interest of the kids at heart, so ignore it. Any threats to my integrity as a human being are swiftly ignored. I know 100% that I am doing things as fairly as I know. If the criticism concerns my ability, then it depends on the credentials of who is saying it. When it comes from a less experienced coach or someone who doesn’t coach at all, I am polite, but it goes in one ear and out the other. If it comes from someone I respect and admire, then I am all ears. Tutors and assessors are great sources of knowledge. We have to listen to that kind of criticism as it can help us get better. Soon I will embark on a very important high level coaching course. I want them to criticise me. I want them to find ways in which I can improve. Then I will take measures to make that a reality.

How do you make good decisions? – By following a structure. I like to plan so that decisions are made rationally and with good knowledge, rather than in the heat of the moment, often blinded by adrenaline. Where possible, I like to have plans to cover a variety of different angles. If X happens, we do Y. This eliminates worry and frees up processing room in your brain by not having it filled with needless decisions. We can’t analyse every single piece of relevant information right there and then as it happens, but we can plan for eventualities. When having to make in the moment decisions, I do not let emotion filter in. I sometimes wonder if Spock would have made a good coach. Many have said I am too calm, and likened me to a computer or a robot. It’s not often you see someone make a good decision while yelling and screaming.

How do you show that you care? – I put my life and soul into it. That has to count for something? I lead by example, which shows I am vested in the program. I am always there for the players and have gone out of my way to deal with issues that affect the team. Where I can make a difference, I do. Whether that is staying up late to design an individual fitness regime that may not be used, giving up my free time to meet a player and parent after an emotional vital loss, giving up my own time and money to make things better in crisis, and sending texts and calls asking about injured players, just to see how they are feeling. It’s difficult with work and other commitments to always be the first there and the last to leave, but I do that where possible. I have on many occasions spent an hour with players after training simply because they asked for advice on the way back to the car. I think that not all my players would say they feel cared about, but actions speak louder than words. I try to go above and beyond in every area. Players do need to feel cared for, but I do bend over backwards enough as it is. Sometimes neglecting other important areas of my life.

How do you celebrate? – Calmly. The job is never done. There is always another game. Even when you win the championship, how long is it until you begin your defence of that title? The moments of joy after so much sacrifice and only last a few seconds. It sounds like a completely unsatisfying quest that has no end. After winning the World Cup, players want to go back in four years’ time to try again. They say it’s not as good as the first, but they are trying to relive that high. That sounds like an addiction. I suppose it is.

How do you accept responsibility for your actions? - Never blaming the field, conditions, officials, luck. Always looking within. Always asking what could we, or what could I have done better. Believing firmly that we are responsible for our own destiny. With my youth teams, to relieve the pressure from the players amidst a large horde of screaming parents, I tell them “When we win, it’s credit to the players. When we lose, it’s my fault.” When I know I’ve made a mistake, I’m quick to apologise.

Part 2

Why do we exist? – My team is the reserve team, so we are looking to create players who are capable of playing for the first team. We take in younger players, we help rehabilitate injured first team players, and if anyone consistently performs highly for us, or the first team have a gap in their squad, they will be looking for our players to step up and fill in.

What is our purpose? – As a club, our purpose is to provide high level soccer to each one of our girls. We take them in at a young age and progress them through the age groups with the aim of creating players that are capable to represent us at a high competitive level. We want our first team to progress through the leagues and become one of the top sides in the country, and to do that, we must create players who are tactically and technically proficient.

Who are our stakeholders and what do they value? – We have parents, sponsors, and a small group of fans. The parents that have to pay for their daughters to play at a young age want to see quality coaching, competitive fixtures, good facilities, and that their daughter is given a fair chance to improve and demonstrate her skills. The sponsors wish the spread their brand recognition, but appear to be here mainly to see the club progress. I feel that they have a vested interest, mainly as they have friends and family members within the club. Seeing their brand on the front of our shirts is obviously good for business, but more important for them is seeing the players perform well and enjoy themselves. The fans, largely made of family, friends, and a small amount of people in the community, are going to games for moral support to the person they know. We are not a well-known team, and women’s soccer is not popular. We certainly don’t have any ultras or hooligan factors.

What is value to the student-athlete? – Our players are not student athletes as we represent a club rather than a college. The value to them is that they get to pursue an interest and a passion. Women’s soccer is increasing in popularity thanks to the success of the professional league and the third place finish of England women in the 2015 World Cup. Some may wish to progress to higher levels when they are older. Some players enjoy playing at the competitive level we are currently at. For some, it also provides a social life and a means of keeping fit.

What should our mission be? – To create players that will improve and support the first team, aiding them in their endeavour to progress through the leagues to become one of the best in the country. Whether we realise it or not, we can also be an example to disenfranchised girls and women out there, showing that women have every right to play soccer, despite the outdated view that it is a man’s sport. Success on the field will help that, but we could make it part of our mission to reach out to schools and establish links within the community.

Part 3

Why do I coach? – I coach because I love the sport. I am totally immersed in all things soccer. I am a passionate fan, I have been a dedicated player, I am a referee, and all this manifests itself into the coach within me. I love the thrill of the challenge, and the journey that we embark upon as a group. Whatever the task ahead, I want to take my team from where they are, towards their potential. I have chosen this as a career because I wouldn’t see the point in getting up every day to work with people I don’t like, for a cause I don’t believe in, to make someone who doesn’t care about me a richer man. I don’t want the same, I don’t want the mundane, I don’t want the comfortable or the easy. The highlight of my week never has been and never will be do spend my Friday and Saturday nights with the same group of people going to the same places. I live for game day. I live for practices. I live to see players reach that next step.

I am willing to work for it, and I have had to do many things that were difficult, make sacrifices, and spend a lot of time doing the jobs that no one wants to do. In England, mandatory education stops at sixteen. Ten years later, I am still in education, one year away from graduating with a master’s. A lot of people my age are making much more money than me as they have stable careers, and are not having to pay for education, but at the age of twenty six, I have worked in many different countries across three different continents, doing a job that I love. My friend and his girlfriend have just bought a house together and are now on a cruise around the Mediterranean. They are truly happy, and as much as I would like that, I am not prepared to give up on my dream. After many years abroad, I am now back living with my parents, barely making enough money to afford gas to get to practice, but I would not trade it. I know what I want to achieve, and I know that sacrifices have to be made to achieve it. It would be easy to quit, but I plan on living another sixty years or so. Quitting is for cowards. I wouldn’t want to live the rest of my life with the shame of trying my best, making sacrifices, and then deciding that enough is enough and that I want the easy life. If your desire and determination is strong enough, you can achieve those goals. It’s like my old boss used to say; “We can all achieve our dreams, if we have the courage to pursue them”.

Why do I coach the way I do? – A lot of how you coach, particularly at the beginning, is shaped by your personality. As a person, I am naturally polite, kind, and humble. These are good traits to build upon as a leader and as a person, but you also need to be confident, enthusiastic, commanding, driven, disciplined. As an assessor once remarked about me when I failed one of the early licenses in coaching “You’re not exactly the life of the party”. I have had the second set of traits all along, but they have not been outward in my personality. Confidence has been a huge issue. I have always been confident in my knowledge, but not confident in the confidence others may have in me. I have learnt that. I have made it a priority to work upon that, and now when I coach, I very much am the life of the party. It’s like being on TV or speaking to large audiences. At first you are shy, perhaps nervous, and never really come out of your shell. Now I have no problems with that at all. I have made my weaknesses my strengths.

What has helped me coach the way I do now is years of practice, a multitude of experiences, and endless coaching education. I look for every chance I get to gain another license, go on another coaching course, go to a CPD event. This provides opportunities for feedback, assessment, analysis, and to reinforce the good, and improve the bad areas of your coaching persona. Most of my experience has largely come under the influence or guidance of either English or American soccer ideals. Even in Singapore and Kuwait, I worked for English companies with an English ethos. Both the American and English ideals are very similar, and have been shaped by stealing the best bits from the French, Germans, Spanish, Dutch, Brazilians, Italians, and even the Belgians. We all know that coaches are the best thieves. From here I have learnt how to maximise player development, and to create a philosophy that is adaptable to different ages and abilities, dependent upon who I am working with. It all comes from the same book in my mind, so what I do with the U6 team could be relatable to what I do with my ladies, just a much more simplified version that builds up over time. My three values are effort, respect, and creativity. That is applicable to every team of every age and ability. I want to see you work hard, I want to see you play fairly, and I want to see you have fun and use your magic.

What does it feel like to be coached by me? – This is going to depend largely upon the personality of the player. I have found I connect more with the players who arrive at practice first, stay the longest, and ask the most questions. These aren’t often the best players in terms of technical ability, though sometimes they are. They help with equipment, they ask for advice and guidance on areas of their game that we are not covering in the session, and they confide things in you, almost like they are looking for your approval. The players that are lazy and disrespectful are the ones that I clash with. I cannot tolerate that, regardless of ability.

Sometimes I can be strict when I need to be, and that will set a tone that we are not here to waste time. When players complain about things that are boring or difficult, but are necessary, I do not back down. For example, fitness testing. I am looking to improve the player tactically, technically, physically, and psychologically. We test it, we monitor it, we improve it. Then you become better. The less motivated players probably think I am boring and will remind them of the teachers at school that tell them to stop talking and to do their homework. The highly motivated ones will see me as someone in their corner, that has always got their back, and who will strive to get the best out of them, who will challenge them and take them to new heights. Some players used to see me as a pushover or a soft touch, and that can’t be said any more.

How do I define success? – Improvement. Being better than we were. Ascertaining goals and then achieving them. Again, this is largely dependent upon the player and the team. I have had to have discussions with players and parents about this, who want instant success and have different definitions. A prime example, when in Mexico, my U7 boys lost to an elite team that was run by FC Barcelona. They destroyed us 18-1. They had players who at that age, receive the ball on the chest and strike with their laces into the top corner from twenty yards. My boys picking their noses and chasing butterflies. If we make our goal to be as good as them by next week, we will fail. If we look to win the league, the league which they are also in, we will fail. We have to make realistic and attainable goals, which we achieve over time, and move onto higher levels. Going back to my three values; did we try our hardest? Did we play fairly? Did we have fun? Three yesses, and we have achieved our primary goal for the game. You can’t ask for more than that.

Another game we lost 14-0. Our opponent had an exceptional player that was involved in either scoring or assisting about twelve of their goals. The parents were so upset you would have thought we were at a funeral. What were the boys doing? Running around, hitting each other with inflatable tubes, having a great time. They had been playing soccer just thirty seconds ago. Did they try their best? Did they play fairly? Did they have fun? Of course they did.

Improvement is the name of success from my point of view as a coach. Can we be a little better than we were before? Miracles will not happen, and success is not just achieved overnight. Lionel Messi said upon his “overnight success” debut for Barcelona; “It took me seventeen years and one hundred and forty seven days to become an overnight success”. Every little gain you can make is a step in the right direction. Every inch that you can claw towards your target is a success. Not everyone sees that. With my ladies team that play at quite a high level, I am the new coach there, and they are a relatively new team. I tell them that winning is not the goal, but performance is. If we perform well, the win will come. Sometimes it does happen that you can play bad and still win, but that is not an effective strategy. Performance is the goal, winning is a by-product. I tell them it all adds up, piece by piece. We will play each team twice, and I want us to do better every time. If our first encounter finishes 1-1, our second should be 1-0, or 2-1. We always want an improvement. In every little area, can we be better? During the game, the second half should be better than the first. In the first half, we only created two scoring opportunities, and gave them four scoring opportunities. In the second half, our goal will be to beat that. By determining the goal, by measuring the success rates, you will begin to gain thousands of little victories. The little victories add up to big extrinsic successes, such as championships and trophies. That would be great, but we are nine months away from that. We need to focus on our first game this Sunday. We will determine our key performance indicators, see how well we perform against those, and move on from there.

I tell my players, and it is a philosophy that I take to heart, that we cannot all be the best. There is only one MVP, there is only one gold medal, there is only one winner. If we forever define ourselves against that, we will fail repeatedly. Instead, be the best you. Be the best that you can be. If I have all the players in the team striving towards their best, the team improves, that makes the players improve once more as individuals, and slowly, we climb up that ladder, becoming closer to our potential. On the recent announcement of fitness tests this week I heard cries of “That’s unfair”, “I have been injured an am unfit”, “I’m one of the slowest in the team, everyone will beat me”, and “If my friends don’t try hard, I might lose interest and probably won’t either”. That’s very sad to hear. I informed them that their results would be recorded individually, and that they are not looking to compete against each other, but only against their recent performance. The best you can be is not determined by others around you. If you achieve a low score, achieve a better score next time. If you achieve a high score, get an even higher score next time. Don’t worry about how anyone else does apart from yourself. If you can beat your score, that is success. If you maintain that improvement, that is success. It all adds up, eventually, piece by piece, brick by brick.

Reading this back, I come across as far more intense than I would have originally thought. That's a little scary. Perhaps I really should consider the quiet life, and start filling my life with boring TV and pubs.