What is this optimism that you speak of? As you say we are Spurs we don't do optimism, and those who did were hunted down by @remembercolinlee
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What is this optimism that you speak of? As you say we are Spurs we don't do optimism, and those who did were hunted down by @remembercolinlee
The extent to which your analyses of football games concludes with 'luck' makes me wonder why you follow the sport at all. Of course luck plays a huge part, but more often than not the scenarios in which that luck is useful come to pass due to often imperceptibly small conscious and purposeful decisions.
Some might point to the perceptibly large decision to go ultra conservative in the second half and drop Shaw and Trippier into what became a flat back 5 was what led to Italy dominating possession near our area, which inevitably leads to more chances and more corners.
Or you could zoom in on the corner itself and point to the silly decision to have one of the smallest players on the pitch renowned for being poor in the air marking the near post ball. Give anyone aside from Trippier that job and the ball likely never makes it to the six yard box.
The fact that elite football is about small margins does not absolve its competitors of almost all responsibility as they shrug their shoulders and blame luck. In fact the very best and most successful get to where they do by analysing games, seeing beyond the luck, and learning real lessons.
Happy to discuss anything....but do it in humility, assuming that the expert knows more about it than you do.
This is as ridiculous as it gets
I take it you didn't see the cricket the other day? First ball of the innings caught at slip. Yes, it wasn't a substitute fielder but it was somebody catching a ball (quicker than 80mph) with his first touch of the game.
You realise they were just taking a penalty, don't you? A shot from 12 yards and these are professional footballers. I didn't see none of the other players warming up by taking penalties, did you? Get used to the conditions and atmosphere? They'd been inside the stadium for hours ffs.
You aren't a Man Utd fan lost on this board by any chance, are you
In these situations, when you first come on the adrenaline is pumping and your legs probably feel like jelly. The human brain and body need a good 10-15 minutes to run the adrenaline out the system and regulate the heart rate. This is totally normal across all sport with the exception of ice cold athletes like Ronaldo or Federer.
When Rashford and Sancho stepped up to take their penalties, you could see the nerves were still in the system. Body language was all wrong. In fact, bringing them on so late didn't only decrease their chances by not giving them the required regulatory period, it massively increased the pressure on them by basically saying "I don't trust you to do anything more than score from 12 yards with just the keeper to beat".
Southgate got every single substitution wrong last night. Both in terms of timing and in terms of personnel. Simple as.
Yes of course. But you learn lessons by looking at many games where luck becomes a smaller and smaller component. My references to luck are always in response to people making claims on small data samples.
Experts told us flight was impossible. Plus what makes a footballer a managerial expert? I am a managerial expert and I have vastly more experience than Southgate. Football is another matter.
The expert might not know more though. Just because the expert gets some things right, doesn't mean he gets all things right and in fact sometimes and often is the case gets things wrong.
It's why people get to criticise the likes of Jose, Big Sam and even Poch when things go wrong.
Might be a bit harsh on Southgate considering how well he has done, but to think he's done everything right is also naive.
Your many games usually consists of 5 seasons though PS, not sure you get that amount of data on managers anymore
let alone at international level
Of course he didn’t do everything right. No-one ever does. Did he get more right than any recent manager. I think so.
For what it's worth I think all England managers are too cautious. I think you need to experiment more in the group stages because you can only win the last two matches by being at your best.
I claim to be a managerial/leadership expert too and have rarely seen a better job on those than what Southgate did.
I think the tactics suited the players he played. I do think he should be more adventurous but that maybe entails a personnel change.
As for Southgate's major mistakes, it was mainly around pens. Most people call them a lottery (that's fair enough) and luck but it'd be interesting to get a stat on how many subs miss pens when they are bought on right at the end. It seems logical to me, that in such a high pressure situation and having been sat on your arse for 120 mins and not really touched the ball, to expect a player to then go and be in ideal condition to take a pen is a big mistake.
.. or habit?
Can anyone say they were optimistic in the late 90's up until BMJ was appointed?
I'm sure that I went to games during that period because I couldn't think of anything else to do.
So when experts disagree others should reserve their judgement (Bertrand Russell)
Agreed but with BMJ we started to get optimistic again, we should have known better
but to be fair we have had some decent years with Redknapp and Pochettino but we had to pay for them with AVB and Mourinhio. Now we have a new Portuguese manager I hope he's better than the previous two.
Not seen that quote but when I chair meetings I ask for people to try to explain why people disagree rather than piling in on one side or the other. Often if two experts disagree it's because they are both missing something.
Agreed but with BMJ we started to get optimistic again, we should have known better
I think we all hope that, because in all honesty that is setting the bar quite low.
Southgate did a bunch of things last night that go against what other experts would suggest, though.
Subs while defending a set-piece, for example. Putting on youngsters to take penalties is another.
He's done a very good job with the camaraderie and team spirit in the side and given them an identity.
He also made a bunch of decisions that I believe were mistakes.
It's not arrogant to point out either of those things.
Has he though?
I praised him for creating a good aura and installing passion but tactically he’s an absolute mess. Bland as they come at a time where we’ve got one of the most exciting teams in years.
If the two managers last night were in the other’s dugout we very much likely come home with that trophy.
It’s probably a brutal assessment but I’m hungover and don’t give a ****, lol. Southgate is absolutely the product of fortunate timing with this team in my opinion, we got to the semi final and finals of the last two tournaments despite of him, not because of him. World Cup run we beat Tunisia, Panama, Colombia (pens) and Sweden, lost twice to Belgium and lost to Croatia.
This Euros we beat an ageing Croatia and probably the poorest German team in about 10+ years. He’s done about par for the course with the team, all the while making it primarily laborious to watch for the most part.
Nice guy, love his passion but he’s holding us back in my opinion, he’s the weak link in this England set up.
Yes because you are talking about real life when often a decision has to be made despite the disagreement. Russell had the luxury of being a philosopher where non decisions are encouraged. But my point was, as PNP has just made, you cannot really point to Southgate's alleged expertise to defend his position unless of course he had won the Euros when much of my argument would have been hollow.
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