Poch vs Fans
Coaches View vs Fans View
Coaches are proactive football fans, supporters are generally reactive football fans.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it is something I have talked about before and it boils down to how you assess the performance of a player. A coach watches a game and sees different things than a supporter.
Is a player playing reactive football, in other words reacting to events or is he anticipating, reading the game and gaining that added time, snuffing out danger before it has become dangerous?
For instance, did Eriksn anticipate a first time whipped in cross by Kevin de Bruyne for Manchester City's first goal or Davinson Sanchez to cut out the cross for City's second goal?
They both reacted, rather than anticipated and that delay in taking action cost us two goals.
Does a player force the opposition to play sideways, does a defender stay on his feet? Does a player have vision, is he adaptable?
How do you define if a defender has had a good game, by the number of blocks he makes, the number of tackles he makes, headers won, duels won? Everyone raves about Aaron Wan-Nissake last season for Crystal Palace for this.
No.
Ask yourself why players like Ledley King or Toby Alderweireld rarely got/get booked? It's because they can read a game and be in the right position to snuff out danger before it has arisen.
The words of legendary Italian defender Paulo Maldini speak volumes.
“If I have to make a tackle then I have already made a mistake.”
Prevention is better than cure.
As a coach, you look for a root cause. A root cause of blocking a shot is to not allow the shot in the first place so how do you do that? What went wrong to allow the shot?
Was the fault for the Aston Villa goal, Sanchez misjudgment, Danny Rose misjudgment or a failure to close down the player with the ball? Were the defenders expecting a long ball? Was there a concentration issue?
It was probably a combination of all of these so as a coach which aspect do you work on?
As a coach, you look for a root cause. A root cause of blocking a shot is to not allow the shot in the first place so how do you do that? What went wrong to allow the shot?
Was the fault for the Aston Villa goal, Sanchez misjudgment, Danny Rose misjudgment or a failure to close down the player with the ball? Were the defenders expecting a long ball? Was there a concentration issue?
It was probably a combination of all of these so as a coach which aspect do you work on?
If you can improve positioning or improve a players reading of the game great, if not, perhaps the player needs replacing, however good he is at tackling or blocking.
A quality player, through anticipation, looks to have more time on the ball, makes everything look easy, almost as if, as a defender, he hasn't had much to do.
Ron Greenwood,ex-player, ex-West Ham United and England manager was asked the most important asset in any player and he replied 'Anticipation'. The art of sensing what is going to happen before it does, Bobby Moore stood out as a world-class defender, praised as such by the likes of Pele (the world's greatest footballer at the time) because of his reading of the game, his anticipation.
What is the single most important aspect a coach looks for in a player and that means a player at any level, even the top international players?
Ron Greenwood,ex-player, ex-West Ham United and England manager was asked the most important asset in any player and he replied 'Anticipation'. The art of sensing what is going to happen before it does, Bobby Moore stood out as a world-class defender, praised as such by the likes of Pele (the world's greatest footballer at the time) because of his reading of the game, his anticipation.
What is the single most important aspect a coach looks for in a player and that means a player at any level, even the top international players?
THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET OR QUALITY A FOOTBALL PLAYER NEEDS IS THE ABILITY TO BE COACHABLE.
Now that isn't just me saying that, that is the view of top coaches who have coached the very best.
Football is about going out and doing as your manager asks, not going out and playing it by ear, there is an overriding game plan in every game. Tanguy Ndombélé, for instance, has already played two different roles in his two competitive games for us. He had far greater defensive responsibility in the Man City game to help prevent City attacking through the middle.
A player who isn't prepared to listen will be shown the door. Listen to most fans on Twitter, they think they know better than a coach, all the qualities a coach doesn't want in a player.
A player has to learn to love, constructive criticism, from the right quarters. You don't listen to reporters or fans for instance, not even your family usually, they all mean well but they simply don't have an informed enough opinion for a player to take notice of it.
Enjoy their praise, don't let it go to your head, but a player wanting to improve will turn to the informed opinion of coaches for advice.
There is a good article on the FA website from Steven Reid who was a Premier League player for 13 years and also held the post of assistant manager at Crystal Palace. Follow the link and take a read.
Coaching in the Premier League on Matchday
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