Thats a very good point. I have always believed that to be true as it means you are teaching and empowering the people round you to perform at your (very high) level of performance. You can see how he does this through his coaching team and the players. If he is successful in doing it he will leave us a legacy that lasts way, way past his contract.One more thing: give them the responsibility to make their own decisions. Good leadership is essentially about making yourself redundant, rather than being indispensable.
I watched the end of it last night. I've got to be honest, I felt a slight tinge of fear when he said:
"That is the gift I wish to leave Manchester City with". He was referring to a winning mentality, and the fact that we win the lower profile games as well as the big ones.
I don't want to think about the fact that he is already thinking about his exit. I'm sure he is, of course, and I'm equally sure that the gift he really wants to leave us with is the Champions League. But it was a bit like hearing your wife talking about her next husband.
He wont get far if we all take turns at clinging to his left ankleI watched the end of it last night. I've got to be honest, I felt a slight tinge of fear when he said:
"That is the gift I wish to leave Manchester City with". He was referring to a winning mentality, and the fact that we win the lower profile games as well as the big ones.
I don't want to think about the fact that he is already thinking about his exit. I'm sure he is, of course, and I'm equally sure that the gift he really wants to leave us with is the Champions League. But it was a bit like hearing your wife talking about her next husband.
But he teaches them to make the right decision through his drills and coaching. He relies on their quality but look at the way everyone has improved. Its down to him. The stats they showed last night for Leroy and Raheem vs last season were just ridiculous.Watched this last night and it was clear he's on another level than most. He went out of his way to repeatedly credit the players and reassert that it was their ability that was the most important factor. He has the same kind of aura that GPC had in making players be better than they are because if Pep believes in you it must be an amazing feeling.
He also seemed much more pragmatic than his reputation suggests with much of the player quality dictating how we play IE Delph can't play up and down the wing so he plays inside. The game moves around the players rather than the players around the game. It's a very delicate balance.
I'm sure there is much to the positional play that he didn't cover which Neville tried to get him to speak on but he also seemed to trust the players to make the decision on the pitch rather than it be fixed
Agreed! I just meant more that the players don't have a fixed option for each moment. They are equipped with several responses through the coaching etc and then trusted to choose correctly based on variables eg see what Pep said about his wingers and their body shape when they receive the ball - sometimes that allows them to run other times they have to simply pass itt he teaches them to make the right decision through his drills and coaching. He relies on their quality but look at the way everyone has improved. Its down to him. The stats they showed last night for Leroy and Raheem vs last season were just ridiculous.
He wont get far if we all take turns at clinging to his left ankle
Correct but it all stands or falls on the quality of the players........ to be able to control the ball at any speed from any angle! Breathtaking!Surprised by how many are nervous about the tactical discussion. As if anyone can implement those ideas, and as if anyone can stop find the perfect way to stop them. None of this is new info for coaches, but it's the man behind the ideas that makes them work. That commitment, energy, foresight, intelligence, desire to improve, his incredible people skills - those are what make the tactics work. Not literally just the tactics. And he clearly gave a very simple watered down version anyway....you can't emulate Pep in a text book. He's a genius.
Definitely.
Neville comes off as a bright chap but he's not an innovator or creative in the game of football, that won't magically materialize. Pep is and has always been different, Cruyff picked up on this when he was 19 years of age - takes a genius to recognize it in another
been thinking about this today and I find some similarities in the film Whiplash.
We have a highly determined, very focused, incredibly talented and demanding manager. He's cherry-picked his squad (orchestra) and he's done this because he wants them to play a very challenging style (piece of music). Each individual member brings their own talent, their own training and their own experiences which makes them suitable for the role. Now they get challenged by being in this environment and having to bring out another level of performance.
At the heart of that there is the drummer, or in our case, the man in possession. The drummer has to have the technical skills, and he has to work relentlessly to have the necessary technical skill and mentality to perform in the role. In rehearsal (training) they practice with the score, or in our case all the scenario and positional training, video reviews. They have to grasp their requirements, they have to understand exactly what's required (in the film there's a scene about rushing or dragging), and they need to be able to nail it under immense pressure.
Most teams would then take their score onto the stage and play it, fixated on doing certain things and not daring to do anything different. Pep's evolution takes this to another level. In our case, our team doesn't play one role, one instrument, each player adapts their role according to the rules and principles they've learned in training. They go out on the pitch without a score, instead ingrained in them is the fundamentals of how we want to play. From then on, they have to watch, or using the analogy, listen to the music. When their teammates are playing a particular tune, in a particular setup, they instinctively adapt to it and harmonise. It doesn't matter whose performing the role, what matters is that the team is so well drilled and familiar with it that they can each pick up each part and bring the piece together. This is where the drummer comes back in.
At the end of the film the drummer comes in and is trusted to essentially play blind, to listen to the piece and play a suitable rhythm. He struggles and falls on his face. In our case, the drummer is the man in possession, and he has to see what his teammates are doing and adapt to it, and adapt to it. If he's out of sync, or can't play what's required, we end up with Pep's first season. Those players get dispatched, especially if they aren't willing to graft. Now we're evolving to the point where they all instinctively play together, and it's a not a fixed tune or plan that Pep has set out, which is what Neville was trying to get at yesterday with his "how do you coach, what do you tell them to do" style questions, as if Walker is taught "well, when Raz is here, you must be there". No, Walker knows where to be based on where the team is, and adapts accordingly.
Our drummer has to match the team, and has to know and retain the basics. That's why Pep says he steps in to remind his players to do the basics, because otherwise the whole team falls apart, the training, learning, muscle memory is all dependent on the fundamental set of principles, these notes get played with this particular tempo, in this particular order. Then, when that all comes together we create our own melody, and as at the end of the film, on special occasions, the drummer can give us a virtuoso solo performance as Kevin likes to do and pull off something individually brilliant that allows us to reach a crescendo.
And that's for me what Neville last night failed to get. Pep gives them the basics, gives them the basis of what the team should do and when the team should do certain things, and what different parts of the team should do in various situations. He instills the work ethic, and puts the players under the pressure to prove they have the technical and mental capability to play in the team, especially as drummer. If they can't, they end up like Joe Hart. Then, they go out on the pitch and as that team, adapt to the game and pick up the various roles depending on the situation. In short, Pep gives them the tools and knowledge, but the team has to make the music. As Pep said, it's all about the quality of the players, something the pundits struggle to get. It was true in Whiplash, it's true for City.