Time to Modernise the ''Manager's'' Role

What worries me is you've put in way more thought to this already than we might reasonably expect from our Chairman....

"Recruitment is somewhere I think even Moyes’s staunchest supporters will consider that he fell down on."

...I do have to take issue with that, though. I think by and large Moyes' recruitment was one of his strengths. Cahill, Arteta, Lescott, Baines, Pienaar, Jagielka, Coleman, Mirallas; I think in general his positive and successful purchases reasonably significantly outweigh his mistakes.

Everton has been the pioneer in so many things in the footballing history, it would be nice to think we could be so again.

Well unfortunately people get in the way of the thing! Personalities vie for control and often where you see multiple 'managers' for want of a better word they end up despising one another. Ambition, greed and egos prevent the thing working.

With the right people it could work like a dream but the odds are stacked against it.

Sorry to be negative but these days I'm a cynic!

Ever the pragmatist, never the tactician, Moyes simply used what he had to make the most effective team. He did that pretty well, too. So, no genuine wide players? Get two central midfielders (Arteta and Osman) to start wide and tuck in. He played Carsley and Cahill in their proper positions and get other people to work around that. Indeed, you might say that his desire to play Cahill 'in the hole' determined the whole shape of the team. Bent was just Bent, he was wasn't picked for his mobility but simply because he was the best we had for a time. Sorry, I don't see that as trailblazing in the slightest. Moyes' make-do-and-mend approach is the polar opposite to Bielsa, who has footballing principles he wants to see carried out.

I don't agree with the idea that Moyes' player purchases were his weak point. I think he did a pretty good job there, give or take a few howlers. As for the idea that transfers should be taken out of the manager's hands? No, I think that's a terrible idea. (Oh, and Woodward and Brailsford were NATIONAL coaches, which makes their jobs very, very different from a club managers.)

Having said that, I enjoyed reading the piece, Steve. Most stimulating!

I think you've actually just more or less described how modern football works. Scouting networks quite often get a remit to look for a certain type and are also expected to suggest named beyond that remit. A players recruitment will go through a committee even if that committee is an informal one. Prepareration is done by an army of coaches, analysts and scouts already with the manager popping up in training but not being essential to it.

Right, that's me done nit picking! It was a great article to read and your enthusiasm for Bielsa seems pretty reasonable to me. I watched some of their games last season and I was very impressed. I didn't know he was soon to be out of contract. You've got me convinced. A much better option than Lennon, Martinez, Pip, Laudrup or Benitez.

No problem if he can't speak English, we can just hire an interpreter. Does anyone know of any interpreters who have an interest in football and are looking for a decent job in the summer?

#548 Kev, I'm afraid you are wrong about Dave Brailsford. Whilst he is head coach of UK cycling he is also head coach of team sky who are the cycling equivalent of Man City. Loads of money was pumped in with the brief of taking the most skilled English cyclist Bradley Wiggins to the top within 5 years, and he did it within 3. All the money the world couldn't make Brad suddenly climb mountains, but top level coaching (mostly from outside sports with real thinking outside the box) delivered a result that no European cycling fan thought possible, though I do accept that Contador and Schleck were missing. And yes, cycling is my other sport!

i would ask you one off the point question, Kev, how, if it was not a combination of luck, hunger and ultimately the tactics and the system would you describe that the 4th place finish occurred?

To get back on point, I do not think the there will be many old fashioned hands-on style managers anymore and Britain will slowly go continental. For example, the "manager" does not sign the players at Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle, to name just a few. In fact, it may just have been Wenger, Moyes and Ferguson at the top 8 sides who combine all three roles.

"The Stamford Bridge manager has been an influential presence in Valente's career, taking the full-back from Uniao de Leiria to Porto where both major European honours were claimed before recommending a move to Everton he ensuing travails were clearly something neither Mourinho nor Valente had anticipated. "Mourinho told me that Everton were a good team, a team that challenges for a place in Europe and a team that fights until the end, and that they are a big name in English football," says Valente. "I was in a strange situation in Portugal at the time. I was not playing for Porto and I wanted to leave, and Everton was the best team to come to. It was an easy decision for me to make."

I'd take Mourinho, but all the wishful thinking in the world is unlikely to make it happen, even if we doubled Moyes' contract and offered that to him.

I thought Valente was a good signing though, as I remember, we didn't pay much for him and he did a decent job for us, unlike that dreadful Italian LB who he replaced, Pistone I think his name was. How dreadful was he?

As regards the question you address directly to me... do you mind if I come back after I've had my tea? I'm bloody starving!

By the way, after I posted before, I thought: I was probably a bit hasty in my criticisms there. As a person who pens the odd piece on TW, I know it's tiresome if someone just goes through what you've written putting red lines through sentences - nah, that's not true; nah, that's not true. Yours is a good article and deserves a considered response. Later...

My sources are saying that Gus Poyet is as mad as a bag of cats.

You have the 1st 11, the bench, then those who don't even make it to the bench, then the vast pool of unsigned players from other clubs potentially avaliable to work their way through to the 1st11

If the manager picks the team it's no use having a 'director of football' sometimes at the mega rich interfering owner behest foisting a player on a manager in a position that won't improve the team...let the manager manage, you shouldn't keep a dog then do all the barking yourself.

Team prep is seperate; set pieces, fitness, conditioning, diet, recovery, physio etc etc should all be left to the different specialists.

I know that was then and this is now but Catterick only went near the training field to pose for pictures.

Younger(ish) coaches might like to get on the pitch and run around but they are only trying to recapture what has gone; eg kicking a ball and being however breifly 'one of the lads'.

If you get too involved you can get a can't see the wood for the trees senario and end up micro managing to the nth degree... OK so you might have a cunning plan for working a free kick tell the coaches, maybe even say heres one idea come up with others.

But basically you have to back the specialists to do their job and let them get on with it...carry on Sgt.

"Younger(ish) coaches might like to get on the pitch and run around but they are only trying to recapture what has gone; eg kicking a ball and being however breifly 'one of the lads'."

It's this approach and thought that scares me. Training is not like this at any top side and reportedly nothing like this at Everton, under Moyes. training is not about 5-a-side games and running around. It's about endless drilling. to make certain moves come nautral in games, as well as trying to make every training session different and specitic to each side. A manager like Bielsa, Guardiola and Klopp will have his sides working on fitness but also performing specific drills for specific moves scenarios. working on how to win back the ball as quickly as possibly from certain players and having the training tailored to the next opposition and even a few oppostions after them. "getting back to basics" to me means regressing to the days of the 80s. football has moved on and you need to have a modern coach with modern ideas.

I'm terrified at the prospect of a Neil Lennon, a Duncan Ferguson or someone else who wants to get back to basics and before long they'll be back to following training with a pint, and fish and chips.

A little video of the master at work to give you an insight into the modern style of training.

The intensity of the great man just in training sessions is mind blowing. there's loads of these on youtube if you click the links

I don't know anything about Bielsa but would be interested to know what you think of Pereira.

By the way, if any of them can get us playing football like that first goal v WHU then bring him in. Not that I'm a total football purist. A few Duncan-style "stitch that y'bastards" finishes will do for me. But that was a fantastic goal on Sunday. If Barcelona had scored it we'd never have heard the last of it.

"As an astute student of the game Tuchel is constantly researching and implementing new, dynamic training regimes. With a keen interest in sport science, he has collaborated with Professor Wolfgang Schoellhorn of Mainz University, developing training schedules focusing specifically on speed and agility.

In order to keep his team mentally stimulated during training, there is no repetition of drills. Players’ are encouraged to focus on the positive aspects of the session and not to reflect on any mistakes made. One interesting method Professor Schoellhorn has encouraged the Mainz coach to use, as part of his “differential learning” technique, is the discussion and working of tactics using videos as opposed to practicing on the training pitch.

It’s this alternative approach that has garnered Thomas Tuchel such praise from the footballing fraternity. As the science of sport evolves, he is heading the pack of next generation coaches. Most of his spare time is spent pouring over match statistics while tinkering with the team formation, taking into account the upcoming opposition and variable conditions.

Employing a prolonged pressing game that requires a considerable amount of stamina as well as discipline, Tuchel likes his team to play a high tempo style. This type of tactic, if sustained throughout a match, can be energy sapping if incorrectly executed but as a strong believer in work ethic and teamwork, player support is his focused attribute.

In front of a tactics board, the man referred to as ‘Double T’ is nothing if not adaptable. Throughout last season he tinkered with an assortment of formations, utilising a total of six variations. The most successful used by Mainz was 4-2-3-1, which balances nicely between defence and attack."

Interestingly the article goes on to compare Tuchel's period in charge of Mainz with Klopp and Tuchel's is better. I really do think this guy should be on the shortlist of candidates that the Board interview. Here are the two records

Klopp, 2004-07, played 102, W 29, D 28, L45 (% won 28.4), Tuchel 2009 -12, played 102, W 39, D 27, L 36 (% won 38.2) We all know what Klopp has gone onto achieve at Borussia Dortmund.

It was a truly great goal. it's a shame that there's only that open, very much staged, open training session per year for Everton. It's hard to get a real insight into what Moyes was like on the training pitch and so you have to try to read between the lines from a mixture of other people's opinions. The conclusion I get to is that he's the one of, if not the, most innovative British coach there is. I'm frankly scared of the possible replacements who seem to lack the dynamism and innovation that I believe is needed on the training pitch. Would someone like Lennon really come in to Everton minus Moyes with every one else still there and say, as you were, just carry on as before. I'll let you lot get on with it and I'll just watch then pick the side. frankly I believe the new man will change everything to his way of doing things and I fear that on the training pitch at least, we'll be going backwards unless we bring in a top foreign coach.

frieberg's Striech

hannover's Slomka
and Nuremburg's young Weisinger

Again, though, I don't know in depth as much about them as I would like, only being exposed to the limited German coverage we get here. However, I do like what I read.

I really do not understand why more British players do not go abroad. Surely, by the time they are 25 or so, they would have earnt enough to be comfortable for life, and if they then need to leave their home town club why not go abroad. I know I wouldn't have wanted to play for a manchester club or a london club if I was a pro and for whatever reason had to leave Everton, but I would have looked abroad first. training in the sunshine in Spain or Italy has to be better than a rainy day in carrington?

I hope that you are right because I was worried from an Everton fan's point of view, not whether it pays out.

We finished 4th by grinding out a lot of 1-0 results, as I recall. For me, it was a very good version of what was fundamentally pretty ordinary football. Hence the many comments about us over-achieving. The first goal against West Ham was on another level entirely. Two levels up, I'd say. Let's compare that to Wigan: on a bad day, they seem to play a very bad version of what is fundamentally very good football. DM would never have done that, which is a strength and a weakness. He was sensible, he never over-reached. But then, what is ambition if not, in a sense, over-reaching?

OK, enough DM. I don't want to keep talking about him.

The manager manages...all the others below him with their specific skills and tasks.

He sets the direction those skills head towards be it Dutch total football or uber KITAP1.

It all depends what you are refining to managers job from and where do you want to get to. I don't think the manager should define his own goals, that is the job for the Custodians of the Club. The Board might think thay are and well they might be in a transient hands on capacity.

The true custodians of the Club are the fans that carry the collective history of the Club in our racial memory... put simply WE ARE EVERTON and yes, old hat or whatever NSNO is where we want to get to.

the new managers remit;

Play Decent Fooball ! the rest will sort it's self out.

If it's good enough you will win things.

If it's good enough you won't get relegated.

If it's good enough the crowd will fill the place up and buy stuff.

If it's good enough the sponsors will come, sky will show us more.

etc etc etc

So yeah the managers role does need redefining, no fancy theories, head sets clip boards.

Football is kids game played by men for a kings ransom...It's a simple game made complicated by bullshitters

It's all about the ball, keep it, score goals, thats why a goal is called a goal it's what you are after...your goal, in both senses of the word.

Not trying not to lose. ( went a bit rant-esque there for a min )

Redefine the managers role in the manner of K.I.S.S.

Interesting video's of Bielsa coaching. It would certainly be exciting to see him over here managing Everton.

When Bielsa accepted the Bilbao job he got tapes of every game from the previous season. He watched every game, in full, twice. Benitez has no room in his house due to having endless tapes of football games. It's all about clipboards and headsets now Derek. Dinosuar's like Harry Redknapp have had their day.

The only way you could conceivably have a manager ignore the training and preperation is if you had some class double act, a kind of Clough and Taylor in reverse. Whereby the manager could entrust all the coaching and preparation to his assistant who would prepare his team perfectly for the game and the tactics he intended to play.

NFL style coaching will be rife in football and you'll see all these guys talking to the manager from lofty perches and banks of monitors. we're already embarking down that route. As for the recruitment side of it, there's barely one English style manager away from these shores with absolute control, and with the influx of money and foreign ownership, one by one the big clubs are reducing the manager's control. Just look at City, Chelsea, Spurs and them across the park.

You your self say that one man having his hand in all 3 is a thing of the past

Not only could they not do it, in fact do it to any really effective dergree without neglecting other equally important facets of the 3 fold task...The Should not do it.

I feel that Moyes was and is too wrapped up in the No. 2 preparation phase and should've been letting the Rounds et al measure the tenths of seconds and % stats, like 2IC's should do.

He was good at phases 2 ( and 3 ) which is good for 6th place but the lack of an exciting attacking overall ethos could mean that he is one of lifes sergeants good at whipping the troops into shape and thus the perfect No.2

We need some one with vision a David Stirling if you will...who dares wins.. to set the Club in a new direction. Good sergeants ( back bone of any unit ) have their uses and it is not in the phase 1 of your 3 phase job discription

So like we both seerm to say the job needs modernising. Not all old stuff is bad and new stuff good, take the good bits from both and redefine it

To keep with the military anology all generals are fighting the last war.

Moyes and all like him are still repaying 2004-05 ( well it worked then )

Our new General must be able to fight the next war

If we get the right man he will define the role himself.

He had a very simple approach, there were no stat's in those days, and he had players who would walk over hot coals for him. No matter what the tactical approach is, if you can get that extra 10% from your players, you are nearly there. All great coaches have a great charisma about them. It really struck me when Mourinho left Milan, the players were in tears.

As a kid, I remember looking at their side individually against ours.

Putting aside my bias, I could not for the life of me see how they could match us.

The answer (which worked for us in 84-87 and worked for Clough) is to have everyone buy into the collective.

Not just SAY they do (because they all would) but to ACTUALLY believe in it.

Any manager who can achieve this, can be successful without the 'best' players.

It's funny, when I watch Ronaldo, I see an absolutely fantastic player, but one who imo is (still) playing for himself.

Watching him, I wonder if there would be any change in Madrid's position in La Liga or in the CL, if on occasion he'd passed to a better placed team-mate rather than trying to improve his 'stats'.

Maybe not but...maybe.

The Bundesliga is turning out quite a few new ideas and coaches with initiative and guile, sadly the FA seems to churn out moulded replicas.

I worry that the modus operandi of BK is stumbling from one disaster and missed opportunity after another and doubt he has the guile or savoir faire to look beyond one of his yes men or the names that the newspapers and television churn out as the prime candidates for the job, plus he is a cheapskate so will be looking for a bargain bin deal.