Season 2011-12 Fan Articles
Die Schule des Fußballs Wissenschaft
By Matt Dee :: 14/03/2012
13 Comments (»Last)
Something a bit left-field here to take (some of) the mind off the derby humiliation.
I remember reading this story more than 18 months ago after England were roundly spanked by Germany in the World Cup, and it's been lingering in the back of my mind ever since.
Ages before that tournament, the DfB recruited a team of sports science students at Cologne Univerity to painstakingly analyse footage of all of Germany's potential opponents and base the German team's tactics around the findings. OK, so they didn't win the tournament but their performance against England brutally demonstrated how the appliance of science could enable a largely inexperienced team to expose England's ahem, 'golden generation' as the over-rated sham they really are, (and made a fool of Capello for a laugh). The triumph of intelligence over hype.
I remember reading this and thinking it was a great idea ? finally some bright spark (Jurgen Klinsmann in fact) has realised the benefits of pumping some serious brainwork into football to go with the obscene amounts of cash.
To the point: I'd like to see Everton experiment with this idea at club level, and right now might not be a bad time to give it a go. With the club locked in a permanent state of financial stalemate should we not be looking to harness any alternative advantages we can? Love or loathe Moyes, his approach to managing Everton has been forcably centered around finding alternative ways to succeed in the absence of pure spending power (you know, those tiresome cliches the pundits love to churn out when talking about Moyes's Everton ? work ethic, good organisation, blah blah...) so I'd guess he might be open to suggestion. Liverpool University has a (well renowned as far as I know) football department so it seems Everton would be well placed to recruit a team of boffins as tactical support staff. Undoubtedly football management is a stressfull business so this would also ease some of the pressures off Moyes's furrowed brow. If it doesn't work, no great loss (and if it does for god's sake keep it under wraps!)
Can anyone really claim there isn't room for more brains in football?
School of Soccer Science anyone?
Reader Comments (13)
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2 Posted 15/03/2012 at 07:31:46
3 Posted 15/03/2012 at 09:28:44
4 Posted 15/03/2012 at 10:33:58
Everton are overcoached as it is.
We need a manager with balls who puts his trust in attacking players.
Read some coaching manuals and I'm sure you'll agree. For training they are great. For tactics they are 90% hot air.
5 Posted 15/03/2012 at 10:49:25
6 Posted 15/03/2012 at 12:18:36
7 Posted 15/03/2012 at 10:49:17
A modern badge course covers those things plus psychology and aerobics.
It is not always the case that badge success automatically makes for a good coach. I have known badged coaches whom I would not trust to walk my dog.
In battling my way toward a badge I was dismayed to find that every situation be it of a mental, physical or technical nature had its own dogmatic response.
The slightest diversion from the rule resulted in a mark down.
For a classic demonstration you need look no further than our coaching panel. Each of them plus Moyes himself are ex defenders which in my opinion explains why we have an abysmal total of goal scoring record.
Hold on a minute!
How do we explain why, with all those defensive coaching experts we are leaking goals like a seive. More in fact than 16 other teams in the league.
In conclusion it is great that science is playing its part in the game but I caution that too much of it creates a kind of sterility that leads to an exercise that lacks passion and creativity. Sounds familiar eh'.
8 Posted 15/03/2012 at 17:44:20
Yes I seem to remember seeing something about that German dooda.
Perhaps the John Moores Uni would care to undertake similar research on behalf of the Blues.
Not sure which Dept would be best tho'.
Perhaps the Maths dept could start by counting the times Rodwell passes the ball back or Jagielka hoofs it upfield aimlessly. On the other hand it could be the Languages dept that comes to grips with the Anglo Saxon use of the FC words - purely unrelated to ( Everton) FC (ffs) - that are freely used in describing management. They may also consider a new motto now that the Latin nil satis is no longer applicable.
The Humanities dept could get involved with the BU's phobia about BK and DM and the Banking and Business section could look for that elusive model that would attract investment into the coffers.
Alas, I think it is too late for the Science Dept to muscle in on the act- Everton lost the 'Vision' long ago and there is no science involved but perhaps the Chemistry dept could inject some fresh venom into the 'Counts' bite.
After all said and done going to a University may be rather ambitious -even the present Technical College is unable to put any Vorsprung Durch Technik on the Goodison Park.
9 Posted 15/03/2012 at 18:36:47
10 Posted 15/03/2012 at 19:46:39
Firstly you have to realise that there is a deep suspicion in English football about anyone who can read or write. Apparently the next England's manager's dog has a better command of arithmetic than he has. As for his ability to communicate with the players (unlike some Italian bloke) I'd love to sit in on the convesation between Arry and Rooney.
German coaches and players looking at the videos would be learning about opponents and tactics. English players would be wondering where the popcorn is.
Yes, there's loads of room for brains in football. About 95% more than at present?
11 Posted 15/03/2012 at 22:36:30
I suspect Moyes adopts a scientific based approach to his tactics like resting 6 players for a derby with one eye on the next game with the ensuing disaster that unfolded. Give me a couple of salt cellars, a bottle of vinegar and tomato sauce any day and a good old-fashioned never say die, win at all cost mentality any day of the week.
12 Posted 16/03/2012 at 22:39:00
Would they have been roundly spanked by Germany if the ref and linesman had done their job properly and England had gone in at half time after just getting the game back to 2-2?
13 Posted 16/03/2012 at 23:07:01
In the late 70's liverpool offered me a trial when I was the flash git in the school open age team.
Being a blue I turned them down (are yer reading Rooney?), knowing it could only be a matter of time before Everton come calling.
Still fuckin' waiting - bastards never even watched our games - what's that all about?
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1 Posted 15/03/2012 at 07:24:47
WE don't want to forget about the Derby humiliation just yet. It's still killing us.