Without cohesion a team can’t win

Some time ago, Spalletti said that “now Napoli is showing compactness and mentality, and we have a group of friends”. The players must be united on the field and not necessarily friends, however, these words indicate important aspects of a group. A sign of this mentality concerns Insigne who despite leaving at the end of the season continues to play his fundamental role. A team must be united, and there are no alternatives; Sarri has also understood this and with Lazio has re-established a climate of greater union with the players by improving the human relationship with them. An example on all, in our league, is represented by Mourinho that in exchange for the maximum commitment of the players supports the team whatever the difficulty. This is not the old system of carrot and stick but empathy, which in the case of leaders consists in pursuing the chosen objectives while understanding the needs of the players. Napoleon already said this when he affirmed: “I win my battles also with the dreams of my soldiers”. United we win, we have always known this, the strongest armies of the past were based on this concept. In competitive terms, it must be applied with the awareness that the commitment of all is essential, the best players are not needed if they do not know how to play together. The most recent example of a lack of unity and a presumptuous mentality was provided by Inter in last week’s derby. Milan was psychologically compact until the end while Inter showed, over time, a level of cohesion centered on a lower and lower level of intensity and aimed to maintain the acquired result. In the end, the most motivated and united team won. In summary, cohesion is synonymous with common purpose, willingness to sacrifice for the team and intensity of play. A team that is not very united can win a match by using the quality of the single players, but it will never win a championship or obtain salvation if it is not united.