Stat's not good enough

In American sports a player’s performance comes down to one thing, statistics. Stats are the story, they define a player’s game, and ultimately his career. In the NFL a single moment of game winning creativity can be overshadowed by the Quarterback rating; a complex formula where the number of attempted passes, completed passed, total yards gained, amount of touchdowns, and intercepted passes are multiplied and added together, divided by 6 and then multiplied by 100. Now please do not take this as me insulting American sport, I love NFL and have admiration for the attention of detail put into their statistics; but using only quantitative data to analyse a performance does not always give you an accurate portrayal.

Now on the flip side in our version of football, statistics are in relative infancy. We collect information on the distance a player runs in 90 minutes, how many shots he has on/off target, his goal per game ratio – these make for an interesting read and great ammunition when discussing which player is better, but what do we really learn from it?

I know that Lionel Messi has scored 228 goals in 311 games for Barcelona giving him an impressive ration of a goal every 1.36 games, I also know that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 247 club goals in 449 club games giving him a fantastic record of a goal every 1.81 games. Impressive as these statistics may be and as wonderful as they are to know, how can they be used to help someone improve their game?

As a coach it is important to understand the game, it is vital to know the action areas, where goals are scored from, it is helpful to know the average breakdown of goals scored by position, and what percentage of goals are scored in open play or from set pieces.  Knowing this information can give you an edge, it helps in planning sessions and creating realistic situations.

For example, conducting my own research of Europe’s top leagues and the Champions League I know that 85% of goals are scored from inside the penalty area, and that over 70% of all goals are scored with a 1 touch finish. This information tells me that the majority of shooting practices should take place inside the penalty area and encourage high tempo, quick reactions, shooting early, and finishing in congested areas.

Trivial statistics have their place in football, they are interesting and create conversation; but as a coach it is important to look a little bit deeper and as with American sports, use the correct stats to give you the developmental and winning edge.

Football's Renaissance

In the wise words of a pessimist: You cannot prolong the inevitable. It happens to all of us, none of us look forward to it and some even try to deny, but age eventually creeps up on us all. Football is a relatively short career, in your mid to late 30s your speed starts to diminish, your muscle density starts to decrease, you feel the ache of the previous game/training session more than ever; at this point that nagging thought can creep into your head – is it time to call it a day?

With the improvements in training methods and advances in medicine and science, football is welcoming a new type of player – the resurgence man. Many players who are considered past their best and placed on football’s scrapheap are demonstrating that hitting 35 is not a career-ender. We can all think of at least one of these players, someone widely to be considered a has-been that did not accept that enough is enough.  

Ryan Giggs was labelled "finished" shortly after his 30^th birthday, with a transfer to Bolton Wanderers on the cards in the summer of 2004, few could have imagined what would happen next: over 300 games, over 40 goals, 4 Premier League winners medals, 3 League Cups, 3 Community Shields, 1 FA Cup, 1 Champions League, PFA Players’ Player of the Year, and a 1 year contract extension at the age of 38.

Giggs is not an anomaly – Clarence Seedorff continues to be instrumental at AC Milan, Raul has a new lease of live at Schalke, Frank Lampard is still scoring for Chelsea, Paul Scholes is showing that his decision to retire at 36 was very premature, Brad Friedel is as agile as ever, the list continues to grow year by year.

If players take advantage of the improvements in medicine and training techniques, if they allow themselves adequate rest for recovery, if they look after their diet then age loses the upper hand in the battle to end a career. Science and medicine can only do so much, two more ingredients are essential; determination and desire. Without the drive to want to carry on playing the battle is lost, but add these essentials to science and medicine and it will only be a matter of time before 40 really does become the new 30.

It appears you can prolong the inevitable!

The good, the bad, and the average

In football we love a superlative; great players are described as world-class, good goals are described as fantastic, and a routine save becomes unbelievable! It seems that when it comes to the game remaining objective is much easier said than done.

As a fan it is difficult keeping things in perspective, you naturally lean towards speaking favourably about the team you support and its players and this ultimately leads to overpraise. A fan favourite will often be overhyped when in reality he is little more than a good footballer; everything he does will be deemed incredible when in fact he has done little more than keep the ball. Now consider an opposing fan's opinion on the very same player; useless, overrated and profanities will often be used. When offering an opinion it seems that rationality is excluded.

There are different ways you can measure the quality of a player/situation: you can compare player against player, you can assess the impact a player has on games, you can consider a single situation and the effect it had on the outcome of the game. However in every case it is all relative, no single moment should be definitive. A save can only be as good as the shot, a tackle can only be as important as what happens next, and a goal can only be as good as the difficulty of its execution.

To be considered world class surely a player needs to be widely accepted as one of the best three in his position? It does not discredit a player to call him very good, but does calling a very good player world class not devalue the greats?

Goalkeepers are subjected to the overhyped praise and unfair criticism more than most. A relatively simple save is wonderful, but a conceeding a goal can be described as poor goalkeeping. Goalkeepers make saves because they have trained to do so, goalkeepers conceed goals because outfield players practice scoring - something has to give.

In our minds football is a game of intricate passes, world-beating dribbles and wonder goals; but in reality it is more keeping it simple, over hit passes and tap-ins.

Here's to another weekend of mediocre football with an abundance of average, a sprinkle of good, and hopefully a moment of class.

The Death of the tackle?

"Get stuck in son, let him know you're there" advice you hear from the grassroots pitch all the way through to the terraces of your favourite team. A bone crunching tackle excites the crowd and reaffirms the player's passion and dedication to give all for his team. But with referees seemingly clamping down on tough challenges and dismissals being issues for "intent", it appears the FA are trying to make tackling a much smaller part of the game - and in my opinion rightly so.

Tackling is a part of defending, and it should continue to be so, but that is all it is - a part. Tackling is a last resort, it is something that complements a good defender. Young players need to be able to tackle, but they need to have so much more to their defensive game than simply being able to get stuck in.

Young players need to understand how to defend without taking the ball, that slowing an opponent down and forcing them away from danger until frustration leads to a mistake still constitutes good defending. That applying pressure and making opponents panic in possession can lead to winning the ball. That reading the game and understanding the oppositions style of play, waiting to pounce at the opportune moment to make an inceterception is extremely effective. To summarise, they need to be more intelligent and less brute.

Paolo Maldini is the epitome of the intelligent defender; in his 24 year career at AC Milan he played over 900 games, yet only averaged a tackle once every two games. This was down two his superb positioning and superior understanding of the game. Maldini did not need to make tackles because he outplayed opponents, he frustrated them until they gave him the ball, he pressured them into going away from his goal. He is the type of defender young players should try to emmulate.

With the pace of the modern game, getting close enough to tackle is becoming more difficult; meaning greater understanding and the ability to read the game will become paramount for defenders of the future - and the way to encourage this to develop in players is high tempo, technique based work in small and tight areas.

Lets hope that we learn to appreciate the intricasies of defending instead of thinking it is simply a matter of tackling. 

Two-Footedness - the ultimate fairytale

Ghosts, fairies, monsters - many people claim to have seen them, people write books about them, maybe they exist. People enjoy the idea of the supernatural, they like to get lost in imagination; and why not, its a break from the tediousness of reality. In football we have our very own special creature that people claim to have seen, that are accepted as commonplace in the game: the two-footed player! Countless times I have heard people talk about world-class players such as Cristiano Ronaldo being two-footed, but in my opinion you have nearly as much chance of spotting a ghost, fairy, or monster as you do a two-footed player.

Now I am expecting lots of people to disagree with me here, but I think two-footed players are extremely rare. Before outright disagreeing, or disregarding this blog as utter nonsense, here is the logic behind this: many players CAN use both feet, and some with little difference between the two, but practically every player has a stronger foot - if he was to take a penalty he would use this foot, if he was to take a freekick he would use this foot, if he was to take a corner he would use this foot. Now for a player to be considered truly two-footed he would not have a preference, you would see penalties and freekicks taken with both feet, but ultimately most players will rely on their stronger foot.

The ability to use both feet does not make you two-footed, it makes you a better footballer, but being able to do EXACTLY the same things with both feet makes you two-footed. There are countless players who nearly fall into the bracket of two-footedness, for example the aforementioned Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo has exceptional ability, and has a left foot better than a lot of left footed players - but without doubt he is a right footed player! Ronaldo has taken countless penalties and freekicks, and every single one has been with his right foot, surely if he was truly two-footed we would have seen him take one with his left foot if the angle dictated.

This would be my definition of a two-footed player: a player who is able to perform actions of equal measure with both feet, without preference.

Using this definition to identifiy a two-footed player I can think of only one - Wesley Sneijder - and for proof of this check out his YouTube videos where you'll see left and right footed free kicks and corners. Now if you still disagree, give me a better definition/logic of a two footed player.

Bad coaches or just bad customs?

A lot of criticism is placed on grassroots football coaches; and in my opinion a lot of this is fair, often a tough tackle is favoured over good technique and a win is more desirable than playing attractive football, but maybe its not as simple as bad coaching. I believe that the UK as a whole is miles behind when it comes to moving forward. 

Consider the following:

The UK's goverment is run by the wealthy and upper-class who have little in common with the average British person. Rules are made to benefit a political party rather than the every day Britton.

CEOs and top bosses float from company to company, with a great knowledge of business but not neccessarily the ideals for a particular field.

Teachers are using the same techniques as they used 20-30 years ago - many of which are outdated.

The FA is run by an older generation who have outdated views on tactics and development.

There seems to be a recurring theme... We don't identify the best person/people for the job

As a nation we are very rigid and things have to be done in a formal and "British" way, and here in lies the problem. Children are not encouraged to think outside the box, to challenge the norm, to get creative. It is common for older people to work with youngsters that they cannot associate with. The lifestyle of a child now is vastly different to that of a child 20 years ago, let alone 30 or 40 years.

In the UK we prefer an industrious performance to a mesmorising and sublime match winning piece of genius. But the two do not have to be exclusive. Imagine if all coaches taught Spanish technique but with British intensity/workrate, if creativity was preferred to victory, if development was first and foremost.

Children should be encouraged to dribble and hog the ball - the decision making of when to pass can be taught later. They should be encouraged to take players on and to use new skills/tricks. The enjoyment of being in possession should outweigh the fear of losing it. Mistakes help players learn, they should not be punished but used as inspiration.

Not all the blame falls on the shoulders of the coach. Parents and even players add to the pressure of points over performance. The lure of a medal and a trophy is sometimes hard to resist. 

I think a massive overhaul and some radical thinking is needed, people need to be outspoken and breathe new life not only into football but also the country. We cannot be afraid to upset the apple cart.

If anyone disagrees please form an orderly queue, after all we are British.

Redknapp - should he stay or should he go?


Few would argue against Harry Redknapp being the best candidate for the England hotseat. After all he is patriotic, declared his desire for the job, and has proved time and time again his abilty to get the best out of his players. But is the England job the best path for him to take?

Many times in the past has a coach been championed by the English press to take over as national manager. And after 1 bad performance or surprise loss the same man is vilified and hung out to dry - a fate that not even Sir Alf Ramsey, the man who brought the World Cup home, could avoid.

The fickleness of English press has a negative impact on whoever takes the lead role, and in order to fill column inches no place is off limits. Every stone will be unturned and every skeleton will be found in his metaphorical closet. Is this a necessary stress for a man of nearly 70 years with nothing to prove professionally?

At Tottenham Hotspur, Redknapp has taken the club to a new level and many believe he is on the verge of taking them to greatness - with some even daring to whisper the word "champions".


Redknapp has the potential to become an eternal hero in the white and blue side of North London, achieving the same undying love reserved for only the great Bill Nicholson. Can the England job offer such attractive prospects? As always, only time will tell!