It may be advisable to not contemplate success or failure so close to the event. I think it is worth something. If you feel your blood boiling and want to take someone out people suggest writing a letter and then tearing it up.
This is may be that letter. I like wearing the heart on the sleeve – balanced analysis can come later. I am writing for therapy and to mark the moment.
We lost 4-2 this evening. I am trying to build a picture of why and what the take away is for future plans. Losing means the formal season is over. Practice started August 1st. The season was done today, October 3rd.
So, to summarize and with a little analogy...
Sack the Coach?
Steve McLaren was sacked today as coach of Championship team Nottingham Forest. A team back on the rise but with a few historical hang ups having won the European Cup. Languishing in the backfill of the Championship, Forest should be a top 6 team. McLaren got the boot, which was interesting as he also managed England, unsuccessfully. What were the expectations for our high school team? Should I step down as someone who has led and failed to take the team to a sectional final for the last 3 years? Not a question requiring an answer here. Just a thought.
Blame the players?
At the end of the day the players have two 40 minute slots to get the job done. There are no time outs, referee review, lite beer commercials etc. The game ebbs and flows and the coach may bark instructions but he / she has limited control during the open nature of the game. It’s a fundamental reason why FIFA are reluctant to place goal-mouth technology in place for soccer. It stops the flow of the game. Were the ISI players to blame? Did they not execute the plan or plays? No. So why do we see reasons to be so concerned? Many of them simply do not play enough. Learning is not a linear function. You have to do provide the typical human with a reason to adapt. Quite simply, 85% of ISI players only play for ISI. That quite simply means they not kick a ball from Oct 5th until June the following year. We have to build something / expect something to enable players to take it to the next level.
I’m not a sports psychologist but let me explain. Attribution Theory deals with the how humans attribute success / failure to outcomes. You can place results within or outside of you locus of control. So, if you win you are better to attribute success to things you control, like effort of ability. Alternatively, failure can be passed off as a lack of luck or poor officiating. We protect ourselves in this way. The pitch we played on tonight was a cow field. The ball rolled like it was possessed by Yoda on meth. Is that a factor? Yes, when you spend a season playing the game based on a decent field and then are confronted with a field which presents an health and safety issue. Officials? The refs played it like a pre-season run out and made a couple of fundamental errors. Even the host school failed to give us benches or pretty much anything to honest with you. Do these things matter? Maybe not when you are a seasoned pro who has been around the block a couple of times. Indiana, lets get real here. You wouldn’t play with a flat basketball or on a court without decent markings. You wouldn’t put a fat, potbellied official in a spot that requires keeping up with Indiana’s fastest kid over 100m. But soccer is ok to do that. There just are not enough decent officials in the state blah blah blah. Sorry folks, your getting paid and for that you should have higher standards. I did the job for years never earning a penny. A few people should stop being an official and try playing the game before a one off certificate qualifies you to be responsible for 22 players.
Tradition versus pioneerism?
There is a massive movement with the current youth from US based traditional sports like football and baseball to soccer. This weekend I took my 6 year old Hannah to a party. At 3pm we walked in and the Sunday afternoon NFL game was on. When I picked Hannah up at 5pm, the Arsenal v Spurs game was on the TV. There were a bunch of 11 to 15 year kids watching – I joked that the Hammers would be a better viewing option. One lad was a Chelsea fan – we joked about who scored a hat-trick this weekend and which youth academy he came from. Indiana is changing. The pioneerism that soccer has be painted with is changing the game and the next generation are more interested in the exploits of Lionel Messi than Terrell Owens. Still soccer lacks it true working class roots here. Back in the grotty back streets of Macclesfield, soccer as been played by poor people.
And relax. Or maybe not.
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| 'all work and no soccer makes coach a dull boy...' |
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