mpickard2087
Patient Zero
- Jun 13, 2008
- 21,889
- 32,562
I never start threads. However I’m laid up all week with a knee injury and so with far too much time on my hands I offer you this...
I’m also pretty bored of transfer talk, the transfer & ITK junkies who only appear on here twice a year at Transfer Window time, the shortlists of 5-10 (completely different) players just to be signed for the sake of it without a real discussion about how they fit into the team and what skills/attributes we need and what constitutes a balanced team… Etc. Etc. You know the posts… And so I’m offering something a bit different to that.
I post it for a couple of reasons. One being that I often critique/moan/opine about various areas of the club and what I would do if I was in charge. Over the last year I’ve become more entrenched in my views and wish the club were a bit bolder in what they did. I also think I see things quite differently to the majority of posters on here. Reading the ambition/realism thread and what we can/can’t do presently as a club and what our expectations should realistically be acted as a trigger really, and so I decided to bring all my thoughts together in one place. Can state my position on various subjects, if anyone wants to know/read them, and be a bit of a cathartic experience.
I guess also that whilst I don’t know how much response this will garner, it’s an attempt to provoke a bit more of a high-quality debate and allows people to offer their own opinions if they want and give the wider SC audience more of an inkling about other posters views and how they see the club and the game. So if any of our pseudo-intellectuals, armchair managers (or Chairmen, or DOF’s), and general know-it-all’s would also like to state their blueprint for what they would do then feel free.
This is quite wide-ranging and covers both short and long term. It looks at the coming season and what the squad needs, as well as long term strategy. It covers a bit of transfers, tactics, the rest of the footballing operation, plus the finance stuff. If anyone is still reading, then after the overblown intro I’m sure you know this might be a long post, so strap yourself in and here goes…
Basically, to link back to the other discussion, we all know the areas where we have to be realistic – assuming that our financial situation/ownership isn’t changing any time soon. Financially we are only 6th biggest in the PL, and we lose out when it comes to paying transfer fees and wages. We aren’t at the top of the footballing food chain, and we are vulnerable to losing our better players to bigger clubs. That’s just how it works. If we do want to compete at an even higher level, we need to be a bit ‘radical’ and try something different… Try to change things, take a long term plan (which virtually no club has the patience, planning and discipline to stick to), and beat the ‘Where you finish is dependent on how much money you have’ consensus. My opinion is that if you don’t try then nothing will ever change, and I feel there are plenty of areas where we can be really ambitious, forward thinking and gain competitive advantages.
Youth Policy
I’ve been an advocate of it for many years, and it’s great to see that this is finally starting to come to fruition. I believe we should continue along this path and believe in it. For me it is quite simple, it is the best chance we have, maybe the only chance, of having multiple world class players in our team any time soon. We can’t go out and buy them, so let’s develop them and produce them ourselves.
The club should be built, from top to bottom, so that each team plays in the same style and same way. I know we already do this mostly, but it needs to continue. That way we develop players with the right skill sets for what we need. I saw a great statement once (it was either Barca or Ajax) that the first team merely reflects how the most junior age group played and what they get taught, we need to be along those lines.
What this is though is a long term approach, and requires patience. It takes time, lots of time. Lets take Barcelona for instance, from when they/Cruyff restructured the academy and put plans in place it took 30 years until they were winning with a predominantly home-grown team. For us, we are already seeing promising signs… Considering we only restructured 10 years ago really we are just getting started, and so the first few ‘batches’/year groups have come off the production line having been through the academy, its impressive that we already are producing first team players. It’s not unreasonable to expect that in the future, as the academy has improved further, that even higher quality players shouldn’t come through the ranks (indeed, we even see now some really promising kids in the age groups).
I would like to see the youth policy gain greater focus and importance within the club and become the cornerstone upon what it is built on. I don’t want us to rest on our laurels, rather build on the good work already done and show even more ambition and innovation. Continuously look to improve, and strive to lead in this area. I want to see more investment and more expansion of what we do… For instance, more scouts. We do a great job already, lets them get out across the country identifying the best talent. If facilities need expanding and improving, let’s not hesitate to do it. To link to this, can we look at how we get the best young players to the club… Maybe look at accommodation of young players? Getting them in schools in the area? Heck maybe even setting up a school ourselves if it means getting the best young players in at an earlier age. Might not all be realistic, but I’d hope they are pushing big ideas and thinking big for the future.
I don’t want to set arbitrary targets or predictions, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to aim for a large majority of the squad to have come through the ranks in the future. This would then allow us to reduce spending in the long term, allowing us to spend more wisely and bring in quality rather than quantity. It also allows us, if we are spending less on transfer fees, to put more towards the wage budget and so leave us better positioned to hold on to our players.
Structure of the club
In terms of infrastructure, I don’t have any complaints really. The training ground has been built; the stadium seems to be finally on its way. Levy and co. are growing the revenue streams and trying to maximise our earnings.
Personnel wise though I’m not that impressed with things. I think there needs to be a much stronger and clearer direction coming from the very top. It seems to me over the last few years we’ve really lacked a clear vision and leadership. We have a Director of Football, yet the manager/head coach seems to hold sway and in some cases (such as AVB/Baldini) we have the head coach seemingly choosing the boardroom-level executives. For me it’s madness that the Coach/Manager is left to build up the rest of the football operations… Because if they leave then they may take key personnel with them, and the next guy in might rip it up and start again and so we don’t have consistency.
I know many will disagree, but I’d like to see us properly take the plunge and give real power to a ‘Technical Director’ type who is the one with the responsibility for delivering the long term plans for the club and overseeing the whole of the footballing side of things. They make sure the youth academy keeps delivering, the scouting network is top notch, the fitness/sports science/medical team is the best around… All of that sort of stuff. A million and one things other than the usual DOF for transfers shit that you usually get.
The Head Coach is then hired to work within this structure and knows what the aims of the club are and how it operates. No excuses, no hiding places. He knows what is expected of him. His job is purely a coaching one – player development, man management and being a tactician who reads the game well.
A final thought I have just had… I talked about developing players via the academy. Well in turn why not have a coaching programme and develop coaches as well? Introduce key ideas to them, the style of play, tactical ideas etc etc… In the future we may have a production line for managers, as well as players. Why can’t it be done? Another thing for the DOF/Technical Director to dream big on and get to work with instead of meddling in transfers…
Tactics
Many people’s eyes glaze over when the discussion turns to tactics, but I think it’s a very important part of the game and there is a real lack of tactical understanding and innovation in the British game and at the club. I think if we are going to try and bridge the gap and push into the upper echelons of the league, then we need to be tactically smarter and play with much more understanding and intelligence in what we do.
I like to think of teams as a unit, in both attack and defence. In attack this is often lost I feel… Whilst you cannot rehearse every planned move, I do feel that you can work on a ‘structure’ and take that into games… Patterns of play, working in little sub units of 3-4 players, what sort of runs you want individuals to make & where they should be stationed on the pitch depending on where the ball is, and what their role is. Done correctly the man on the ball should always have options, and you have a better chance of overloading certain areas and working overlaps. Rather than what we see too often, multiple players all making the same run and into the same area…
Personally I would like to see us play a 4-3-3 across all age groups. It is my preferred formation because I like to have superiority in the centre of the park in terms of numbers and also to control the ball. I don’t mind a patient, possession approach; it just needs to be done well, with intelligence and not one-paced. I also want us to press very high up the pitch (should be drilled into the players from a young age) and strangle the opposition for time and space.
Another reason for it is that I think it’s the most balanced formation and allows you to ‘spread’ skills over a greater number of players. For instance in a Cm2 I think it’s very hard to find two all round central midfielders who are the total package and can contribute with and without the ball. Especially at our level. A cm3 asks less; you can have a holder, a passer and then a runner. I just think it’s just more realistic and less demanding on players – especially young inexperienced ones.
I also believe in flexibility and on changing things up depending on the opposition and what shape you are facing. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to challenge players and ask them to change shape often. If they are intelligent, technically sound and read the game well (which are the type of players I’d hope we bring through) then they should be able to adapt. I’m a big fan for instance of the ‘spare man at the back’ principle and being able to change between a back four and a back three. Whilst 4-3-3 is the formation I’d like to see as the base, I think there are often times where we could be more proactive and change to say a 3-5-2/3-4-3 or even in some games when teams really have parked the bus something like a 3-3-4.
I also think we need to be braver in some of what we do. I’d like to see us really go out all and play with an even higher line and attempt to squeeze the play, I don’t think we push that high up currently and that leads to gaps between the lines. I think some of our passing out from the back is also pretty cautious, this may be to do with sub-standard technical players (that will be hopefully rectified in the future) but a lot of it is mindset… Often I see our player turn down a threaded pass between two opposition players, in favour of going backwards and often back to the keeper. I also think much work is needed on offering an option for the man on the ball and how to find effective space, rather than central midfielders coming right back and picking the ball off of the centre backs toes.
Above all we need to play more as a unit, and less as individuals. With the ball we need to move up the pitch as one, without it when we press it needs to be co-ordinated from front to back.
I was going to write about what I thought Poch was doing wrong, but the last couple of paragraphs basically sum it up. Some might think that from what write that I must be pretty against him… Well I can accept that he will use a different formation, and hopefully proves me wrong and that 4-2-3-1 is viable, but I do think we should be doing more of what I just mentioned… More flexibility, ‘braver’, more intelligent play, consistent pressing game, and a greater tactical intelligence from the team. If we don’t see it in the next season then I’d be assessing what else was out there tbh.
2015/16
I thought I’d also look at the coming season and give my opinion on what needs to be done in the immediate future. I kind of wanted to avoid transfers and keep the discussion away from that but I’ve decided to give my views. Most of what we need to do, I have already mentioned. Tactical change, continue with youth policy and continue to change the culture. I think there are a number of players who should be given opportunities first before we go out and buy. I’d rather we exhausted all options already available to us before we get the chequebook out.
In terms of the current (June 2015) squad, I’d personally move on the following:
Fazio, Chiriches, Capoue, Stambouli, Paulinho, Holtby, Lennon, Soldado, Adebayor.
As for signings, I’d like to see another two at least. At centre back for starters I’d like to see a mobile, ball playing centre back brought in. The most important signing for me though would be a midfield anchorman to sit in the middle of a cm3. This player really should be the most intelligent player in the squad, and read the game better than all those around him. A Carrick or Busquets type, who sits, is great positionally and recycles the ball quickly and efficiently with his passing.
That would leave us with options something like:
GK: Lloris, Vorm.
RB: Walker, Yedlin, Fredericks
LB; Rose, Davies
CB: Vertonghen, Wimmer, Dier, NEW SIGNING.
DM: NEW SIGNING, Veljkovic
CM: Mason, Bentaleb, Carroll, Alli, Dembele
Wide/Attacking Mids: Lamela, Townsend, Eriksen, Pritchard
CF: Kane, Chadli
Chadli I’d be looking to convert into a centre forward. I can’t see why he wouldn’t make a decent fist of it; he has all the attributes for the role. I’d probably look to take a punt on a young prospect as additional cover, but that remains to be seen. I’d also maybe want a wide right player, and sell whoever I get the better offer for out of Lamela/Townsend, but if we started the season with those two as our options then its not the worst options ever.
As I said basically we need to get a group together and have them playing as a unit, rather than individuals and get some coherency and consistency into our play. Lets stop the constant turnover of players and start backing what we already have and plan for the long term.
Finale
If you are still reading at this point then bravo and thanks. It would be interesting to see what others think… How do you think we should approach the next few years? What would you do to make the club more competitive and try to overcome the fiscal reality that we exist in?
I just wanted to highlight areas where I feel we don’t have to be held back by finances and can show real ambition, try to be a bit different and do things better than other teams. I can’t promise that an approach like this would bridge the financial gap and see us challenging even higher up the league on a consistent basis… But as I said before, if we don’t at least try to be innovative and slightly radical then what will ever change?
Audere Est Facere…
I’m also pretty bored of transfer talk, the transfer & ITK junkies who only appear on here twice a year at Transfer Window time, the shortlists of 5-10 (completely different) players just to be signed for the sake of it without a real discussion about how they fit into the team and what skills/attributes we need and what constitutes a balanced team… Etc. Etc. You know the posts… And so I’m offering something a bit different to that.
I post it for a couple of reasons. One being that I often critique/moan/opine about various areas of the club and what I would do if I was in charge. Over the last year I’ve become more entrenched in my views and wish the club were a bit bolder in what they did. I also think I see things quite differently to the majority of posters on here. Reading the ambition/realism thread and what we can/can’t do presently as a club and what our expectations should realistically be acted as a trigger really, and so I decided to bring all my thoughts together in one place. Can state my position on various subjects, if anyone wants to know/read them, and be a bit of a cathartic experience.
I guess also that whilst I don’t know how much response this will garner, it’s an attempt to provoke a bit more of a high-quality debate and allows people to offer their own opinions if they want and give the wider SC audience more of an inkling about other posters views and how they see the club and the game. So if any of our pseudo-intellectuals, armchair managers (or Chairmen, or DOF’s), and general know-it-all’s would also like to state their blueprint for what they would do then feel free.
This is quite wide-ranging and covers both short and long term. It looks at the coming season and what the squad needs, as well as long term strategy. It covers a bit of transfers, tactics, the rest of the footballing operation, plus the finance stuff. If anyone is still reading, then after the overblown intro I’m sure you know this might be a long post, so strap yourself in and here goes…
Basically, to link back to the other discussion, we all know the areas where we have to be realistic – assuming that our financial situation/ownership isn’t changing any time soon. Financially we are only 6th biggest in the PL, and we lose out when it comes to paying transfer fees and wages. We aren’t at the top of the footballing food chain, and we are vulnerable to losing our better players to bigger clubs. That’s just how it works. If we do want to compete at an even higher level, we need to be a bit ‘radical’ and try something different… Try to change things, take a long term plan (which virtually no club has the patience, planning and discipline to stick to), and beat the ‘Where you finish is dependent on how much money you have’ consensus. My opinion is that if you don’t try then nothing will ever change, and I feel there are plenty of areas where we can be really ambitious, forward thinking and gain competitive advantages.
Youth Policy
I’ve been an advocate of it for many years, and it’s great to see that this is finally starting to come to fruition. I believe we should continue along this path and believe in it. For me it is quite simple, it is the best chance we have, maybe the only chance, of having multiple world class players in our team any time soon. We can’t go out and buy them, so let’s develop them and produce them ourselves.
The club should be built, from top to bottom, so that each team plays in the same style and same way. I know we already do this mostly, but it needs to continue. That way we develop players with the right skill sets for what we need. I saw a great statement once (it was either Barca or Ajax) that the first team merely reflects how the most junior age group played and what they get taught, we need to be along those lines.
What this is though is a long term approach, and requires patience. It takes time, lots of time. Lets take Barcelona for instance, from when they/Cruyff restructured the academy and put plans in place it took 30 years until they were winning with a predominantly home-grown team. For us, we are already seeing promising signs… Considering we only restructured 10 years ago really we are just getting started, and so the first few ‘batches’/year groups have come off the production line having been through the academy, its impressive that we already are producing first team players. It’s not unreasonable to expect that in the future, as the academy has improved further, that even higher quality players shouldn’t come through the ranks (indeed, we even see now some really promising kids in the age groups).
I would like to see the youth policy gain greater focus and importance within the club and become the cornerstone upon what it is built on. I don’t want us to rest on our laurels, rather build on the good work already done and show even more ambition and innovation. Continuously look to improve, and strive to lead in this area. I want to see more investment and more expansion of what we do… For instance, more scouts. We do a great job already, lets them get out across the country identifying the best talent. If facilities need expanding and improving, let’s not hesitate to do it. To link to this, can we look at how we get the best young players to the club… Maybe look at accommodation of young players? Getting them in schools in the area? Heck maybe even setting up a school ourselves if it means getting the best young players in at an earlier age. Might not all be realistic, but I’d hope they are pushing big ideas and thinking big for the future.
I don’t want to set arbitrary targets or predictions, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to aim for a large majority of the squad to have come through the ranks in the future. This would then allow us to reduce spending in the long term, allowing us to spend more wisely and bring in quality rather than quantity. It also allows us, if we are spending less on transfer fees, to put more towards the wage budget and so leave us better positioned to hold on to our players.
Structure of the club
In terms of infrastructure, I don’t have any complaints really. The training ground has been built; the stadium seems to be finally on its way. Levy and co. are growing the revenue streams and trying to maximise our earnings.
Personnel wise though I’m not that impressed with things. I think there needs to be a much stronger and clearer direction coming from the very top. It seems to me over the last few years we’ve really lacked a clear vision and leadership. We have a Director of Football, yet the manager/head coach seems to hold sway and in some cases (such as AVB/Baldini) we have the head coach seemingly choosing the boardroom-level executives. For me it’s madness that the Coach/Manager is left to build up the rest of the football operations… Because if they leave then they may take key personnel with them, and the next guy in might rip it up and start again and so we don’t have consistency.
I know many will disagree, but I’d like to see us properly take the plunge and give real power to a ‘Technical Director’ type who is the one with the responsibility for delivering the long term plans for the club and overseeing the whole of the footballing side of things. They make sure the youth academy keeps delivering, the scouting network is top notch, the fitness/sports science/medical team is the best around… All of that sort of stuff. A million and one things other than the usual DOF for transfers shit that you usually get.
The Head Coach is then hired to work within this structure and knows what the aims of the club are and how it operates. No excuses, no hiding places. He knows what is expected of him. His job is purely a coaching one – player development, man management and being a tactician who reads the game well.
A final thought I have just had… I talked about developing players via the academy. Well in turn why not have a coaching programme and develop coaches as well? Introduce key ideas to them, the style of play, tactical ideas etc etc… In the future we may have a production line for managers, as well as players. Why can’t it be done? Another thing for the DOF/Technical Director to dream big on and get to work with instead of meddling in transfers…
Tactics
Many people’s eyes glaze over when the discussion turns to tactics, but I think it’s a very important part of the game and there is a real lack of tactical understanding and innovation in the British game and at the club. I think if we are going to try and bridge the gap and push into the upper echelons of the league, then we need to be tactically smarter and play with much more understanding and intelligence in what we do.
I like to think of teams as a unit, in both attack and defence. In attack this is often lost I feel… Whilst you cannot rehearse every planned move, I do feel that you can work on a ‘structure’ and take that into games… Patterns of play, working in little sub units of 3-4 players, what sort of runs you want individuals to make & where they should be stationed on the pitch depending on where the ball is, and what their role is. Done correctly the man on the ball should always have options, and you have a better chance of overloading certain areas and working overlaps. Rather than what we see too often, multiple players all making the same run and into the same area…
Personally I would like to see us play a 4-3-3 across all age groups. It is my preferred formation because I like to have superiority in the centre of the park in terms of numbers and also to control the ball. I don’t mind a patient, possession approach; it just needs to be done well, with intelligence and not one-paced. I also want us to press very high up the pitch (should be drilled into the players from a young age) and strangle the opposition for time and space.
Another reason for it is that I think it’s the most balanced formation and allows you to ‘spread’ skills over a greater number of players. For instance in a Cm2 I think it’s very hard to find two all round central midfielders who are the total package and can contribute with and without the ball. Especially at our level. A cm3 asks less; you can have a holder, a passer and then a runner. I just think it’s just more realistic and less demanding on players – especially young inexperienced ones.
I also believe in flexibility and on changing things up depending on the opposition and what shape you are facing. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to challenge players and ask them to change shape often. If they are intelligent, technically sound and read the game well (which are the type of players I’d hope we bring through) then they should be able to adapt. I’m a big fan for instance of the ‘spare man at the back’ principle and being able to change between a back four and a back three. Whilst 4-3-3 is the formation I’d like to see as the base, I think there are often times where we could be more proactive and change to say a 3-5-2/3-4-3 or even in some games when teams really have parked the bus something like a 3-3-4.
I also think we need to be braver in some of what we do. I’d like to see us really go out all and play with an even higher line and attempt to squeeze the play, I don’t think we push that high up currently and that leads to gaps between the lines. I think some of our passing out from the back is also pretty cautious, this may be to do with sub-standard technical players (that will be hopefully rectified in the future) but a lot of it is mindset… Often I see our player turn down a threaded pass between two opposition players, in favour of going backwards and often back to the keeper. I also think much work is needed on offering an option for the man on the ball and how to find effective space, rather than central midfielders coming right back and picking the ball off of the centre backs toes.
Above all we need to play more as a unit, and less as individuals. With the ball we need to move up the pitch as one, without it when we press it needs to be co-ordinated from front to back.
I was going to write about what I thought Poch was doing wrong, but the last couple of paragraphs basically sum it up. Some might think that from what write that I must be pretty against him… Well I can accept that he will use a different formation, and hopefully proves me wrong and that 4-2-3-1 is viable, but I do think we should be doing more of what I just mentioned… More flexibility, ‘braver’, more intelligent play, consistent pressing game, and a greater tactical intelligence from the team. If we don’t see it in the next season then I’d be assessing what else was out there tbh.
2015/16
I thought I’d also look at the coming season and give my opinion on what needs to be done in the immediate future. I kind of wanted to avoid transfers and keep the discussion away from that but I’ve decided to give my views. Most of what we need to do, I have already mentioned. Tactical change, continue with youth policy and continue to change the culture. I think there are a number of players who should be given opportunities first before we go out and buy. I’d rather we exhausted all options already available to us before we get the chequebook out.
In terms of the current (June 2015) squad, I’d personally move on the following:
Fazio, Chiriches, Capoue, Stambouli, Paulinho, Holtby, Lennon, Soldado, Adebayor.
As for signings, I’d like to see another two at least. At centre back for starters I’d like to see a mobile, ball playing centre back brought in. The most important signing for me though would be a midfield anchorman to sit in the middle of a cm3. This player really should be the most intelligent player in the squad, and read the game better than all those around him. A Carrick or Busquets type, who sits, is great positionally and recycles the ball quickly and efficiently with his passing.
That would leave us with options something like:
GK: Lloris, Vorm.
RB: Walker, Yedlin, Fredericks
LB; Rose, Davies
CB: Vertonghen, Wimmer, Dier, NEW SIGNING.
DM: NEW SIGNING, Veljkovic
CM: Mason, Bentaleb, Carroll, Alli, Dembele
Wide/Attacking Mids: Lamela, Townsend, Eriksen, Pritchard
CF: Kane, Chadli
Chadli I’d be looking to convert into a centre forward. I can’t see why he wouldn’t make a decent fist of it; he has all the attributes for the role. I’d probably look to take a punt on a young prospect as additional cover, but that remains to be seen. I’d also maybe want a wide right player, and sell whoever I get the better offer for out of Lamela/Townsend, but if we started the season with those two as our options then its not the worst options ever.
As I said basically we need to get a group together and have them playing as a unit, rather than individuals and get some coherency and consistency into our play. Lets stop the constant turnover of players and start backing what we already have and plan for the long term.
Finale
If you are still reading at this point then bravo and thanks. It would be interesting to see what others think… How do you think we should approach the next few years? What would you do to make the club more competitive and try to overcome the fiscal reality that we exist in?
I just wanted to highlight areas where I feel we don’t have to be held back by finances and can show real ambition, try to be a bit different and do things better than other teams. I can’t promise that an approach like this would bridge the financial gap and see us challenging even higher up the league on a consistent basis… But as I said before, if we don’t at least try to be innovative and slightly radical then what will ever change?
Audere Est Facere…
