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- Nov 6, 2020
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- Member of the BLPA
Welcome to the discussion.
Interesting points, and backs up my claims earlier in the thread that a team is greater than the sum of its parts if working together and working hard.
Do you get think thought that these upcoming managers need to adapt a plan B? Not many of them seem to be able to adapt their teams to a plan B if things aren't working...
Sorry I took a while. Thanks for your kind invitation
I think before you can measure, if a plan B is needed, we first must clear on what level we have to implement it. Is it on club-philosophical level? On a strategical level or on a tactical level?
On the level of „club philosophy“ I don’t think that is possible without making the team a „jack of all trades“. For example, gegenpressing is so strong because the clubs train it on such a high level that all players can react without thinking when losing the ball. In the first 3-5 seconds they will try to get the ball back, after that they will get back in a defensive structure. If you try to adapt let’s say to a low block the players will react slower, because they have to constantly reminding them self that it is not a gegenpressing but a low block situation.
Maybe a lot of this „plan-b“ talk is confirmation bias, people have heard about these new coaches and they tactical masterclass and they think for example a Nagelsmann have to adapt a winning strategy in every situation. That is not how football works. If you must adapt, you are losing and if you already losing the chances your new plan works are always reduced. The other team can easily exploit your new plan in a counter (United - Leipzig?). And if the new plan works better than the old one and you know it from the beginning, why not coming up with it first? Real sports are not movies, where it is better for suspense to do the best working things in the end.
Good coaches are always adapting to the other team, not in the game but before the game. Every good couch will change something when losing, but we often cannot see it as audience because it does not change the momentum of the game, which is always difficult in an uphill battle.