EPL and British Football

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I asked LT to delete my acct

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Tread lightly.

I have a damn good reason why I'm using a new name now and the mods are completely aware if it, and you couldn't be more off base as to the reason, which is none of your business. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Rob.

And you're the LAST person who should be criticizing anyone's behavior. Did I call you any childish names? No, you did that.

YOU are the one who took an obvious joke and started a fight over it. You're not even the one I was joking with, but you couldn't resist the urge to instigate a fight. Sorry, I'm not biting.

OTOH, packerfan71 responded in a much more appropriate manner because he recognized we were kidding with each other. Why you take everything so personally is beyond me.
 

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IluvGB

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Yesterday NBC broadcast two full hours on the Premiere League so those of us in the U.S. could learn what it was all about. It was a fun show. They talked about what personality types follow which teams. The history of a number of the clubs. The pubs and the fans. It was like a "Premiere League for Dummies" book on TV. For those of us in the states who don't grow up with it, the show was very informative.

Wish I would of known about it! I'll do a search and see if I can't find it.

My niece is getting into it and showing me clips,..I want details!! I need details!! :)
 

PackerFan71

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HQ pics no apologies for these, im just a geek for football grounds pre season. :ninja:

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mhnessie

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PackerFan71

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Great pictures, PackerFan71.:tup::)
We have a German website with pictures of most stadiums all over the world.
Here is the English section:

http://www.stadionwelt.de/sw_stadien/index.php?folder=sites&site=ligen&land=England

And some more pictures of Chelsea. I wonder if there is still an "Umbro" stand ?
http://www.stadionwelt.de/sw_stadien/index.php?folder=sites&site=stadionfotos_d&id=1030

Ha the old Wembley i like seeing the old relic Stadiums. :tup:
The stand with ''Umbro'' on it now ''Adidas'' is called the ''Matthew Harding Stand'' Named after a guy who would have been the owner before Abramovic, he died young. Nice tribute to him. :)
 
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PackerFan71

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It wasnt meant to be :rolleyes:
Did anybody watch the match, how was it ?


England 3-2 Scotland: Brave Scots fall short
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/england-3-2-scotland-brave-scots-fall-short-1-3043460

Didn't watch it but from what i heard i'm encouraged by the way Scotland are going under Strachan. I was expecting something along the lines of a 5-0 mauling it would have happened if Levein was still there. Two goal coincided by set pieces thats something that can be fixed. And both Fletchers did not play so things are looking good for the future. :tup:

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As for England well even if they qualify for the World Cup from that performance, i don't think Brazil will be exactly quaking in their boots. :rolleyes:
 
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I

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Didn't watch it but from what i heard i'm encouraged by the way Scotland are going under Strachan. I was expecting something along the lines of a 5-0 mauling it would have happened if Levein was still there. Two goal coincided by set pieces thats something that can be fixed. And both Fletchers did not play so things are looking good for the future. :tup:

As for England well even if they qualify for the World Cup from that performance, i don't think Brazil will be exactly quaking in their boots. :rolleyes:
And I was just about to commiserate with you...lol ;) I agree Strachan will do a good job though and if ENGLAND even make it to Brazil I`ll be very surprised.
 

mhnessie

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Didn't watch it but from what i heard i'm encouraged by the way Scotland are going under Strachan. I was expecting something along the lines of a 5-0 mauling it would have happened if Levein was still there. Two goal coincided by set pieces thats something that can be fixed. And both Fletchers did not play so things are looking good for the future. :tup:

As for England well even if they qualify for the World Cup from that performance, i don't think Brazil will be exactly quaking in their boots. :rolleyes:

Sounds good, I will search the web for a video later. :)
Germany only with a draw against Paraguay but I think we dont have to worry for Brazil ;)
 

PackerFan71

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I thought id share this, very interesting.

The secret of José Mourinho’s success is best explained by his deep understanding of football’s most unexploited resource: the human psychology.



William James, the distinguished American psychologist and philosopher, once wrote: “Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake. We are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental resources… [The human individual] possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.”

The thought is as fascinating as it is true: humans operate within a small percentage of their capacity; mentally and physically. What if, say in football, someone found a way to extract some of that potential?



- – -

Ask José Mourinho about the most important thing in coaching, and he will say ‘man management’. “Football for me is a human science; it’s about man, above everything else”, he told BBC Radio 4 in December 2011. For a man who sparks such intrigue, it’s a somewhat underwhelming response, yet his reference goes far beyond ‘rotating the squad’ and ‘keeping players happy’. Rather, it’s about a deep understanding and appreciation of players as complex human beings with desires and emotions, and the knowledge of how to exploit it.

“A coach must be everything: a tactician, motivator, leader, methodologist, psychologist,” Mourinho says. ”A teacher at university told me ‘a coach that knows only about football is not a top one. Every coach knows about football, the difference is made in the other areas’. He was a teacher of philosophy. I got the message.”

Few others have. The human psyche is one of football’s untapped resources, an irony for a sport in which every advantage is exploited so thoroughly. While scientific advances are made to improve players’ capacity, motivation and management – the art of extracting it – is condensed to meetings and pep-talks. While some are good at that, Mourinho is arguable the first football manager to fully embrace – and master – the role of a psychologist.



The individual

A cornerstone in Mourinho’s ‘methodology’ (his favourite expression) is the tailoring of communication to each individual – something he admits is his hardest task as coach. Being a psychologist is complex in itself; players with a near-divine self-image are in equal need of stimulation as fragile personalities. But is it also continually challenging in that the players’ mood must be judged from game to game. Marcelo may be fired-up on Saturday and distraught on Wednesday. Balancing this motivational act with 22-23 players two times a week requires not only a masterful communicator, but someone with a deep understanding of each player’s emotions and personal goals; what drives them, what gets them going.

There are many examples. At Chelsea, Mourinho told Frank Lampard he was the world’s best player but needed to win trophies – challenging his ambition while exploiting the fact that, until then, Lampard had won nothing. At half-time during an Inter game, he told an under-performing Zlatan Ibrahimović, soon to receive the award as Serie A’s best foreign player, to hand the prize to his mother – “someone who actually deserves it”. In saying so, Mourinho was playing on the Swede’s pride. Ibrahimović returned to the pitch, promising to run until he tasted blood.





Clearly, in terms of motivational techniques, Mourinho operates on a much deeper level than other managers. His methodology surpasses pep-talks and hair-dryer treatments, primarily because one message can only speak to so many individuals. Players are different – indeed, humans are different. They have good and bad days – highs and lows. What inspires some may lead others to switch off. “There are many ways to become a great manager,” Mourinho says. “But mostly I believe that the most difficult thing is to lead men with different cultures, brains and qualities. And I think to manage this is the most important thing.”

This also partly explains Mourinho’s ability to succeed in different leagues. He absorbs the cultural values, dismantles the players’ minds and deploys his strategies accordingly. His pragmatism applies not only to tactics.



Beyond professionalism

Connected to motivation is the question of how much success means to a player. Everyone wants to win the league; what they are willing to sacrifice varies greatly. This might be speculative, but Mourinho’s players appear to invest more into his projects than anyone else’s. ”From here each practice, each game, each minute of your social life must centre on the aim of being champions,” Mourinho wrote to his players before meeting them at Chelsea. Such commitment goes beyond professionalism; in fact it nearly eclipses the players’ reality. Football becomes not just work, but the scene on which the meaning of 95 per cent of their day-to-day actions unfolds. Naturally, once the players have invested this much, they will fight to get just rewards.

While Mourinho tirelessly follows his own mantra – current and former players say he works harder than anyone else – he recognises when his players have had enough. At Inter, he noticed Wesley Sneijder was exhausted and encouraged a holiday. “All the other coaches [in my career] only spoke about training”, said Sneijder. ”He sent me to the beach. So I went to Ibiza for three days. When I got back, I was prepared to kill and die for him.” At União de Leiria, Mourinho asked David Barreirinhas, a member of the backroom staff, to become a spiritual and religious counsellor to the first team. Barreirinhas said: “I discovered a José Mourinho who was concerned with the fact that players were human beings as well as sports men and that they could have good and bad days.”

Open any footballer’s autobiography and you’ll find a catalogue of emotional tangles tearing down their psyche. People forget that players are humans, they say. Appreciating this not only makes Mourinho popular with the players, but also frees up their energy to concentrate on football. While acknowledging the importance of eating and sleeping right, Mourinho also focuses on elements like emotional energy and self-esteem. Staying sober isn’t enough. The players must be happy in all aspects of life.



War

Throughout the press, the tribalism of Mourinho’s methods is well documented, inclusive of the “us against them” theory. But another interesting technique is spotted in a blog by James Hamilton, a sports psychologist, pointing to Mourinho’s insistence of a 24-man squad. Aside from involving every player, it means that, when the squad is slashed, those left are “survivors”. Rather than simply being inherited, the players get a feeling of value, of being chosen for a reason. This psychology is very powerful. As Mourinho once told the Portuguese press, “I only go to war with those I trust.”

In such press conferences, Mourinho’s vocabulary is also interesting. Whereas British managers refer to their players as “boys” or “lads”, he calls them “men”. Watch or read any Real Madrid post-match event and the word occurs throughout. This fuels the sense of tribalism, making him sound almost like a war general speaking to his troops. Yet it also testifies respect towards the group, a treatment of players as grown-ups; men on an equal footing. By calling them men, he invites them to act maturely and take responsibility.



Authority

One of Mourinho’s potential problems with not having played professionally was to win players’ respect, yet his excellence at man management has helped him past that obstacle – and well beyond. His first work with real stars was at Barcelona. “When you coach players of this calibre, you learn about human relationships,” he says. “Players at this level don’t accept what they’re told simply because of the authority of the person who’s saying it. We have to show them that we’re right.

“The tactical work I encourage isn’t about there being a ‘transmitter’ on the one hand and a ‘receiver’ on the other. I call it ‘guided discovery’; that is they discover according to my clues. I construct practice situations that will lead them on a certain path.”

This is as clever as it is important, because instead of being told what to do, players get a cognitive sense of creating the ideas themselves. Inevitably, they buy into them. Anyone who has read the excellent The Italian Job, co-written by Gianluca Vialli and Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti, will know how in England, loyalty to the manager is taken for granted, whereas in Italy, and potentially Spain, there is more scepticism. Mourinho could not have succeeded in four countries without his ability to make players believe in his work. I don’t know how he does it,” says Karim Benzema. “He has some sort of trick and everybody listens to him.”



Special ability

In a field like football where so much has been tried and tested, Mourinho’s remarkable success would not be possible without an exclusive advantage. Quite rightly, the supremacy of his attention to emotional, mental and interpersonal issues is roughly proportional with the success he enjoys over his peers. It is what makes him genuinely special. Attributing his results fully to man management would be wrong, though it is clear, even from what Mourinho says, that it is the most important one.

Whether he will become a revolutionary figure inspiring a more all-encompassing approach to football management is less certain, though younger managers could do worse than embracing the advice Mourinho’s teacher gave him: “Every coach knows about football. The difference is made in other areas.”
 
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mhnessie

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Didnt find time to answer yesterday evening - where did you leave the "Robbie Savage" article, PackerFan71 ? :confused:;)
Found that one quite amusing and think we shouldnt take it too seriously though one or two of the behaviours he describes still seem to be popular when a player wants to leave his current team. :rolleyes:

Very interesting view on Mourinho and the importance of psychology, thanks for sharing. :)
Certainly you cant coach top teams like Chelsea or Real without any knowledge in this area.
There are at least 20 players with similiar skills and abilities and I guess you dont have to teach them the fundamentals of football anymore so I assume psychology will become even more important in the near future.
Looks like Mourinho is still ahead of many of his colleagues but I wonder if Sir Alex cared about psychology and individual communication.
But he had success with his own way of coaching. ;)
 

PackerFan71

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Didnt find time to answer yesterday evening - where did you leave the "Robbie Savage" article, PackerFan71 ? :confused:;)
Found that one quite amusing and think we shouldnt take it too seriously though one or two of the behaviours he describes still seem to be popular when a player wants to leave his current team. :rolleyes:

Very interesting view on Mourinho and the importance of psychology, thanks for sharing. :)
Certainly you cant coach top teams like Chelsea or Real without any knowledge in this area.
There are at least 20 players with similiar skills and abilities and I guess you dont have to teach them the fundamentals of football anymore so I assume psychology will become even more important in the near future.
Looks like Mourinho is still ahead of many of his colleagues but I wonder if Sir Alex cared about psychology and individual communication.
But he had success with his own way of coaching.
;)

Here it is, i thought the one on Mourinho was so much better compared to the clown Savage. ;)
No i believe its true what he says there really unprofessional, but at least hes honest enough to admit it. :rolleyes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23703265

How do you motivate a Millionaire? anyone can coach but there is so much more to Mourinho than meets the eye. Sir Alec was a little more rough round the edges in that department (Old School) He could not handle the defender Paul McGrath* who had and still has an alcohol problem, so he got rid of him only trouble was McGrath came back to haunt him many times and became Footballer of the year in 1993. But he realized his mistake so fairplay to him there. Mourinho is similar but has a different approach, and tries to get inside the players head and help him. A very clever man.

*McGraths autobiography is called ''Back from the brink'' very good. ;)

Btw nice Avatar, keep that one. :)
 
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mhnessie

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Here it is, i thought the one on Mourinho was so much better compared to the clown Savage. ;)
No i believe its true what he says there really unprofessional, but at least hes honest enough to admit it. :rolleyes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23703265

How do you motivate a Millionaire? anyone can coach but there is so much more to Mourinho than meets the eye. Sir Alec was a little more rough round the edges in that department (Old School) He could not handle the defender Paul McGrath* who had and still has an alcohol problem, so he got rid of him only trouble was McGrath came back to haunt him many times and became Footballer of the year in 1994. But he realized his mistake so fairplay to him there. Mourinho is similar but has a different approach, and tries to get inside the players head and help him. A very clever man.

*McGraths autobiography is called ''Back from the brink'' very good. ;)

Btw nice Avatar, keep that one. :)

Absolutely agree on Savage but at least he is somehow funny...;)
Dont remember Paul McGrath but reviews of his book are quite good and promising.
Maybe I should get me a copy.....:)

Thanks, PackerFan71 :)
This picture is a nice find when I was searching the web for a picture of her to get me in the mood for her visit in Hamburg next week ;)
 

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