The real difference maker
by Paul O'Donnell
Why and how is it that some managers actually make a difference while others at or near the top of the soccer world consistently underachieve? Why is it that some managers succeed only at dismantling their team (Graham Souness comes to mind and he's managed to do that more than once)? Wouldn't you really like to be the proverbial 'fly on the wall' at a training session led by Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Blackburn's Mark Hughes? I'd love it and it would shed some light on what really makes the difference. Another that might earn a place on that list is Roy Keane. I'd really like to add Greg Ryan and Bob Bradley to that list too.
I'm not kidding. Despite the howls I'd hear if I did the truth is Greg Ryan was wildly successful (51 wins and only 1 loss in his tenure of the U.S. Women's National Team). Bob Bradley has done it more than once too, taking the reins of a disgruntled and unsuccessful Chivas USA team and taking them to the brink of the MLS playoffs before taking over the U.S. Men's National Team after the disappointment of Bruce Arena's team in the 2006 World Cup. Bradley took over that team after three of their stalwarts announced the end of their international careers and all he did was put them back together again and won 10 straight matches, including adding another Gold Cup to the trophy case. Oh yes, there was the poor performance in South America after that, but that was not the first choice team either. Over Bradley's career he has succeeded in making his team a challenger whether that was in MLS or now on the international stage. He gets the job done despite not having the best of situations and he's done it again and again. He's earned the title of a winner every bit as much as some of the others on my list.
Speaking of the list, yes, some of those guys earn that spot year-after-year but you know what? It really isn't just about the money they have available to splash around as some suggest. Frankly, Jose isn't on my list because he surely had a bigger pile but still managed his team to failure last year despite his boss spending another pile of cash to add Ballack, Shevchenko and Ashley Cole to the team that had won two straight EPL titles.
Some still say it’s the big money that really makes the difference in spite of that evidence.
If that were really the case then Jose could not have failed last year in spite of himself.
Really? Oh yeah, and he made it even harder on himself there is no doubt about that. How's that? Well, wind back the clock to the holiday period last year and you'll be at a spot in time where the Blues had closed the gap with United to only two points. Well, that sounds like he got the job done despite no John Terry (back injury with the recovery extended by the need for surgery). Oh sure, losing that man was a big deal but it was Jose that really put the heat on his team by continuing to play the underachieving Shevchenko and Ballack then announcing to the world that United had blown it. What made that just plain silly, almost crazy, was the fact that it was his Blues, that dropped six points over the holiday period when United had given them the opportunity to close the gap even farther. Instead, they failed to take advantage of that and in the end, lost ground. Frankly, they would have lost even more if it had not been for the broad shoulders of their real savior last season, Michael Essien.
In the end their failure to win the title for the third time despite spending hugely over the summer is evidence enough to prove that the big pile of money spent isn't really what makes the difference. Oh, it surely makes a team more competitive but does it really separate them from the rest of the pack? It surely didn't do that for Chelsea last season.
If that doesn't do it for you then the present season provides even more to disprove that media driven adage that it’s the big money that really makes the difference. An example of that is Tottenham and their failure so far despite being the league's biggest spenders in the off season. You need another example you say? Well, how about the English soccer world's biggest letdown Liverpool, who have built one of the best teams in the world (on paper), but can't win their domestic league. Liverpool, despite being the most successful side in the history of English professional soccer winning more titles (18) than any other team has never won the Premier League. Actually, only four teams have won it; Arsenal, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea.
Ok, so there's something else that matters even more than the big pile of money. What is it?
That’s why I'd love to be that fly on the wall at an SAF training session, or maybe even better, Mark Hughes to find the real answer to that question.
So why Hughes? Well, he's a winner and he has done it the old fashioned way you might say; he's earned it. I still remember him being called to action by Coventry City in their desperate bid to stave off relegation. Despite his age he damn near succeeded and it was exciting stuff. In the end Coventry did go down but Hughes became a real hero because he almost rescued his team. He showed against the odds that effort and heart could be a difference maker too.
Now, he's taken over at Blackburn, one of the poorer and smaller clubs in all of English pro soccer. A club that had been decimated by Graham Souness and Hughes took on the challenge of keeping them in the EPL and he's done that job in spectacular fashion. Rovers are now one of the true quality teams in the league and the consummate over-achievers. Oh sure, he's got one of the league's top keepers in Brad Friedel but don't forget Martin Jol has England's number one in Paul Robinson too. Mark Hughes makes the list for me because he proves that it isn't just the big pile of cash that gets the job done at the EPL level. He has built Blackburn Rovers into one of the league's top teams without having a big pile of cash to splash around to get it done. Rovers are now the team in the EPL that proves just the opposite is true.
Reading did it last year too in their first-ever campaign in England's top flight and if you ask, Steve Coppel probably deserves to be on my list and he will be if he succeeds in keeping them in the EPL this season. So far that looks to be a losing battle but don't count them out just yet. Coppel is that kind of guy. Just watch and we'll find out this year.
Ok, so what is it then? And I say for the real answer we have to look no farther than last season and the rookie campaign as manager of the Ocean City Barons, Mike Pellegrino.
The Barons making the playoffs last year just might have the very same basis when you get right down to it as Rovers success in the EPL.
No, I'm not kidding either and I'm not putting Pellegrino in the same league as Sir Alex or Mark Hughes, but you know what? I wouldn't say he doesn't belong in their company either. I'd hazard a guess that what has made him so successful as a coach at Ocean City High and last year's challenging campaign with the Barons has a lot in common with those guys too.
The answer becomes pretty obvious when you watch their teams play the game. They all have the gift of convincing their players that the game really is pretty simple. Keep it that way and execute the runs with the conviction that your teammate will put the ball where it needs to be; put the ball into space and make the defenders turn their backs and run facing their own goal; keep the ball on the ground as much as possible in the buildup; run the channels and be where you should be on the pitch; don't give away the silly fouls and resulting free kicks that often determine who wins and who loses on a given day; make your free kicks count; don't ask more from your players than they can physically produce and don't give the ball away cheaply knowing that you can't win if you don't possess the ball. Do these things well and you improve your chances of winning. Game after game, challenge after challenge if you execute these things well, you will often beat the team that has the better roster and the bigger pile of cash too.
Last year's huge challenge for the Barons, having lost half of their starting 11 from their opening game before the season was half over Pellegrino's Barons added some exciting young players to fill those gaps in the roster. The approach to the game remained the same but the energy and competitive nature of those skilled youngsters added an edge to the team that carried them to second place in the division, qualifying them for the playoffs.
That, in spite of Mike's loss of his number one fan, his dad. Pellegrino kept his focus and his commitment to the Barons and the approach to the game he favors helped them succeed against the odds. His dad would have been proud.
I'd hazard a guess that Mike Pellegrino, like a Mark Hughes, would be successful at any level. Watch the Rovers, United or Arsenal (if you must) and you'll see teams that trust their mates to be where they should be on the pitch. They'll make that pass into space expecting that run to be made that slices a defense like a can opener. You'll see the same thing from the Barons as long as their coached by Mike Pellegrino.
Like that famous judge said, I can't define it, but I know it when I see it. Soccer fans appreciate it when they see it too and have given it the moniker "attractive soccer." Some teams succeed at producing that kind of play more frequently than others and chances are they're the ones we end up calling champion when the season ends. Keeping the game simple, of building a trust that their mates will be there, that the pass will be made and when it comes together the result is attractive soccer and more often than not a win. Fans anywhere in the world appreciate it when they see it.
Watched Manchester United recently? In case you haven't they are on a tear scoring four goals in three consecutive games and making it look too easy. How? By doing precisely what so many teams seem incapable of doing even at the highest level. The very things that cause us to applaud and say their playing that "attractive soccer" that style of game that puts the beautiful in the beautiful game. For those that know me I'm no fan of SAF or United but I am a fan of the game and they're simply playing it the way it was meant to be played and they're doing it better than anyone else right now. Simple as that.
The interesting thing is that even in the EPL some teams, some managers seem to lose sight of the fact that the game really is that simple and that a team loaded with talent will fail, inexplicably, like a Tottenham. Others, like the Roy Keane-led Sunderland succeed against the odds and not only earn promotion back to the EPL, but surprise those 'loaded' teams like a Tottenham (Sunderland beat them on opening day with a stoppage time winner). Proving, once again, that it isn't really the money that makes the difference.
The big money attracts the big names, and that may get you in the running, but it isn't what makes a team champions. Just ask the Yankees and Joe Torre or any team that has faced the Colorado Rockies this year in the post season. It surely wasn't the money that got them to the World Series. You say you still need more proof?
Let's look at the Yankees then. With the most egregious example of worshiping the money I can think of the Yankees have had the baseball world's most expensive team for years. They also have a man that was called the Yankees best ever player in A-Rod. A pundit in New York actually said he was "the best player to ever put on a Yankee uniform" and that was before he ever played a single game for that team! As a fan of baseball from the time I could walk I was really offended by that and I'm sure Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and a boatload of other truly great Yankees rolled over in their graves when they heard that silliness. Oh, by the way, the Yankees have NEVER won the World Series since A-Rod became a Yankee and no man was more responsible for their failure this year than A-Rod.
The Rockies, the team with the third lowest salary budget in all of baseball may not win the World Series, but you'd be foolish to count them out before the first pitch because it really isn't the money that gets the job done. They have already done what no team in the long history of baseball has ever done by winning 21 of their last 22 games including 7 straight in the post season.
Regardless of what the pundits like to tell us, it really isn't the money that makes a winner and that applies to soccer too. Soccer, like baseball, truly is a team game and no pile of money, no matter how big, makes a collection of great players a team. It can get you close but it isn't really what makes the difference.
And it isn't what makes a team a champion.
