After hearing alot about how technical AVB is regarding his coaching, tactics and his use of mumbo jumbo words I decided to see if one of his famed scout reports was available to see online. Luckily someone nice soul somewhere decided this was the kind of thing that needed to be in the public domain, and so here it is for your viewing pleasure. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...-3-0-win-over-Newcastle-in-November-2005.html (web site) http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01927/art18-1_1927022a.pdf (link) I have no doubt his grasp of the game is very good, however I get the feeling that these kind of reports need to be digested by a Mourinho and spat out to footballers in simple terms and i'm not sure he would do that. Obviously this is all made up from small clips and interviews but he is far too kean to talk technical (even in interviews) where a standard comment would suffice. I don't think he shuts down this technical side to his thinking, which I think is what is leading to our somewhat un-inspiring performances thus far. Hope he pulls it round though.
Oh I like his thinking....it may not go the way he wants but he treats football like his be all and end all...I just hope we are patient enough to allow his vision to manifest...
It's hard to judge our performances so far, as our squad's been missing various players and has been disrupted badly by moves and injuries. I wouldn't call either the Newcastle game or the first hour against West Brom poor shows, though we looked all over the place against Norwich. If the players struggle with Villas-Boas' descriptions of play, then he may need one of his coaches to do a bit of translation for certain players. You'd expect them to get used to how he explains things over time though, even if he doesn't break it down for those that have difficulty with it. That scouting report looks pretty straightforward to me. Not sure what any player would fail to get. EDIT: One interesting note is that Geordie injuries made most of this report useless. Shearer and Owen both missed the game and they lined up 4-5-1.
I am hoping we see evidence of his understanding during games. Venables is the coach who stands out for me with an ability to pinpoint what is going on and make adjustments. Many of course try to do this but it is not often you see it put into effective action. Mourinho is the current manager with the most obvious grasp, but often it's number two's who play a major part in this role. This is an area of the game that was not high profile under Redknapp with his philosophy of letting his players do their thing. I don't think we have seen much from AVB yet in the three games played but then he will need time to fully appreciate the abilities of his players before he can 'play' the team. This I think will be the most interesting part of this season and I am looking forward to seeing how it pans out,with an open mind.
I think we need the guys to understand plan A before we start trying to negate the oppo atm! One thing Mourinho is great at is making a team look and feel like a team. He gets them to bond straight away. He also has a a kind of indifference about him, which works well. AVB i get the impression he almost tries to hard. I'm particularly looking forward to how he lines up against the goons and in the Europa. (i'd go mental with joy if we won that)
Whilst we are on the subject of tactics (or over complicating things) heres a really article on the current Brazil method of play. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/03/03/analysing-brazils-fluid-system-at-close-quarters/ I believe this is the future for the English game as it still utilises wingers/wingbacks/fullbacks and good attacking play. Certainly more interesting than what Spain churn out atm. PS i know i'm not a regular poster on here compared to alot of you, but if anyone wants to rep me it would be appreciated.
My point is that it's necessary for the manager to know about the players to make tactical changes during a match. It's not necessary for the players to do any more than has been worked on in training. Once they fully understand their role and their teammates abilities and preferences they just slot in. The manager can then make the changes during the match without the need to 'explain'.
No probs Ghoddle. I'm thinking of taking some badges, and it's interesting to see where people (managers in particular) draw the line between tactics, micro formations, set plays etc and football being a simple sport of running, passing and putting it in the back of the net. Harrys quote sums this up for me: "If you can't pass the ball, a bowl of pasta isn't going to make much difference" - Commenting on Juande Ramos' strict dietry regime shortly after taking over.
Sorry Spurf, I obviously got the wrong end of the stick. I was getting at the way in which someone like mourinho can manipulate a game by changing formation etc without his team losing fluidity or character, whereas last year Spurs were very much 4-4-1-1 or ****e. I agree that he most probably is yet to understand each players full potential, the main protagonists here imo would be Bale, Lennon and Sandro. Neither has been near the levels we have seen (Champs league VS inter and AC springs to mind).
Think that says it all really, AVB's understanding of the game is really fascinating but I think he's looking far too into the scientific aspects that he's probably forgetting the basics which need to be addressed and built upon.
Is it any wonder AVB is on the touchline doing his squats, waving arms, trying to jump on the pitch, as he didn't make it as a footballer and is now an intelligent (deep) manager that has a detailed understanding of the game, yet so far (in England) he doesn't know how to translate his ideas across to the players in a successful way. Two of the greatest managers in our game, Sir Alex & Wenger aren't great tacticians yet they excel at getting the players to relax, inspiring players and getting them to believe in their methods, thats what will bring success. I would rather we have a manager that simplified tactics but is a great man manager, has bags of charisma, stuck to a specific gameplan and executed it to perfection, that's basically what arry done with his 4-4-1-1, then he tried to be clever (doesn't suit him) and started messing around with formations/tactics and screwed things up. Anyhow, AVB may have a great knowledge of the game, yet he needs to start realising there is more to football then tactics, and often keeping it simple is what works best.
Yes, I'd go along with most of that. A manager goes into a game with a tactical plan. Obviously, that basic planned may be fine tuned to counter the opposition's expected tactics. However, if and when it becomes clear that your plan isn't working - That your tactics are not working, and that the main reasons for this are that certain of your players are being negated by the opposition, or are not following instructions, a good manager will make tactical & personnel changes to try and gain the advantage. Obviously, it is necessary to be completely aware of exactly what your squad players individual capabilities are, to do that.
Amazing that the article glosses over the fact Chelsea won that match 3-0 to have a pop at Villas-Boas...
The author of the article actually makes the same mistake that he takes Villas-Boas to task for, too. "The Portuguese was famed for his detailed scoting dossiers on opposing teams displayed a meticulous eye for detail, and a persistent inability to spell several troublesome words: it's r-h-y-t-h-m, Andre." And it's s-c-o-u-t-i-n-g, Telegraph writer. RE: Boss I actually think that Redknapp's tactical knowledge is as underrated as his man management's overrated. The one time that we actively countered a side last season (v Swansea at WHL), we ran out comfortable winners by virtue of the change. Quick closing down all over the park and a focus on forcing the turnover of possession. Totally unsettled them and they failed to adjust their game. Where he really failed, in my opinion, was by always trying to pick the best 11 players that he had available, regardless of any other factors.
Yes he wasn't a complete numpty with tactics as some believe, but he has a good basic understanding of the game in a tactical sense, formations, and how to use the right players. Yet you could see when he started messing around with the formation it caused real problems, as Redknapp is one of these managers that excels with the simple approach and allowing players to express themselves, so in reality he doesn't need to think much about tactics. Of course these type of managers have flaws, yet I personally love managers that allow players to play with freedom and keep it simple, as thats where the best football comes from. AVB just seems far too deep and serious, is he going to create great team spirit and allow the players to play with freedom and express their ability? or are we going to see a manager on the touchline over think tactics and not understand why the team isn't performing.
I agree with your point about "Harry's favourites" however, I am still of the opinion that he was no great shakes, tactically. For every one he may have got right, he'd get one horribly wrong - for example, against The Goons at The Emirates. He was also slow to react whe it became clear that his game p,an wasn't working.
I've always been a fan of the theory that it's your body, not your mind, that plays, and you'll tend to do better by not trying to straight-jacket it with conscious thoughts. There's always been an opposite school of thought to the effect that players who don't think are predictable and can be taken advantage of. Obviously, there have been great successes on both sides of this divide, and most managers do a bit of both. Mourinho, like Ferguson, is good at building a bunker mentality which tends to forge strong, resilient teams (with chips on their shoulders). I don't trust what little I hear about AVB's struggles in this area--but I hope in the future he can get the team united against outside forces, instead of pulling against him and each other. It seems to me AVB could do worse than to say something like--everybody's writing us off now...everyone's saying we can't win anything without Modric and VDV! We'll show them... It's not his style, and it is annoying, but the thing is that stuff like that works...
Hi Boss, I'm interested to know why you think Wenger isn't a great tactician. He may well not be, but he's always seemed to be a master tactician to me, with an incredibly deep knowledge of the game. As I say, I may well be wrong.
