Tag Archive for 'Simeone'

Coach’ skills to build a strategy

In these days there is a lot of talk about the different conception of soccer that Simeone and Guardiola have, and there is even talk of a comparison between a prehistoric soccer and a new soccer. The strategy and tactics are one of the main centers of interest of a coach and for decades we continue to talk about it when we remember the total Dutch soccer, the English one of the past “long ball and pedal” and the Italian “catenaccio”. Everyone has their own idea, but to understand the choices of a coach towards a particular type of game it is helpful to know what is meant by strategy and in this regard I report the thought of Henry Mintzberg (1989) one of the leading scholars of business science.

“The elaboration of a strategy is a fascinating operation, which is not limited to fixing the simple coordinates of what is normally called programming. …I formed a working team on the subject in ’71 …at the time when our research was about to be concluded my wife was modeling ceramic objects in the basement of her house and it was during one of her presentations at a retrospective exhibition of her production that I realized that everything she said corresponded to what had already been stated by experts in business strategy. So I decided to create the metaphor by analogy and to indicate the difficulties encountered in developing the strategy of a dynamic enterprise:

  • Leading managers are often forced to act in an atmosphere of calculated chaos to devise their strategies, a complex and necessarily collective operation.
  • Strategies are both plans for the future and operational models drawn from the past.
  • Strategies are not always the result of calculation. Sometimes they are – to varying degrees – spontaneous.
  • Successful strategies follow incredibly strange paths.
  • Managing a strategy means elaborating theory and practice, knowing the art of controlling and learning, knowing how to reconcile stability and change.

In the popular legends of the Middle East it is told about a man called Nasrudin who, one day, was looking for something on the ground. A friend passed by and asked him: “Have you lost something, Nasrudin?” “The key” answered Nasrudin. So his friend knelt down next to him and helped him in his search. After a few minutes he asked him: “Where exactly did you drop the key? “In the house,” Nasrudin replied. “But then, why are you looking for it here?” “Because there is more light here than inside the house.” … Breed leader managers are undoubtedly those in whose minds the positive properties of the right cerebral hemisphere (impression, intuition and synthesis) are harmoniously combined with those of the left cerebral hemisphere (lucidity, logic, analysis). But the science of business leadership will make little headway if managers and researchers continue, like Nasrudin, to search for the key to success in the light of systematic analysis. Too many questions will remain unanswered in the darkness of intuition.”

Bayern had the wrong mental approach to the game

It’s necessary to start from the statistics very positive of Bayern against Atletico Madrid: 33 shots to 7, 72% to 28% ball possession, 23 cross at 2. Just reading them makes clear the performance of the Allianz Arena match. Bayern at times uncontrollable, with infernal pace, constant pressure and beautiful overlays on the players. Cross, insertions, shots from outside by two bombers as Alaba and Vidal. If not for 90 minutes, at least 75. Still Atletico remained in the game, suffering enormously and hitting at the first good opportunity.
In the two semi-finals Bayern has shot 52 times but scored only two goals. From the mental point of view the Bayern competitive fury was an obstacle to the completion of his actions, which is to make goal to the opponents. This occurs when a team is a prisoner of the beauty of its game, which turns more into an aesthetic action than in one centered on getting a particular advantage by goals scored. It means that the players have failed in determination and perseverance in reaching the aim to be qualified for the final. Certainly it’s nice to enjoy the public and produce a beautiful game but they have to win the matches that are decisive. This was the attitude on the field and the team was wrong.

Coach the youth’s emotions

After the Champions League defeat Simeone, the coach of Atletico Madrid,  said that: ” you can win by losing if you play at your best.” It’s a key concept for the development of an athlete and it should be taught until the first day that a child starts one sport. On the contrary, we see young people who just made ​​a mistake they get angry with themselves or get depressed. We know that this happens for the conjunction of different reasons: the parents are distracted and do not give much weight to these behaviors, the coaches are more focused on teaching the technique rather than emotionally to train athletes and the young people themselves also are not good at expressing their emotions and to take care of themselves in a positive way. And so, I look every day tennis players slamming their racket to the ground after a little mistake, alternating moods of depression and anger against them or in other sports in which after one mistake they made ​​a repeat others, because they are dominated by frustration. To change this way of life setbacks and mistakes parents and coaches must be more aware of their role as emotional-coaches and the need to work with their children and athletes to change these behaviors. We must not impose our solutions of adults to their problems. We must instead listen empathetically without to judge, so as to feel supported and respected in their moods. Only after this stage we should start talking about what could be done differently, giving time to express their ideas and for us to express our own. Acting in this way takes time and often it’s this reason that adults do not follow this path. But we must be aware that if we often act in this manner, the young people will begin to think that their reactions are not interesting  for their parents and coaches, and worse they will still continue to behave in a negative way. If we want our children develop the ability to effectively manage their daily stresses,  we have to spend the time to teach them how to behave, feel and think in those moments.