On the day in which David Moyes has been sacked by Man Utd
it seems fitting to be discussing the importance of world class coaching at the
elite level of European football. With the Champions League semi-finals
beginning this evening we have most certainly entered the ‘business end’ of the
season, or should I say, the elite leg. These final four sides are excellent teams, yet the reason for why they are at this stage is down to their coaches.
When you look at the final four in the Champions League what
strikes you is that there are two sides who last season were playing in the Europa
League, nowhere near the Champions League finals. Now of course that is somewhat disingenuous
of course as the season prior Chelsea lifted the Champions League and Atletico
the Europa League, so it is not a complete shock that these teams have reached
this round the tournament. However, there is little doubt that the reason they
have achieved what they have this season is down to their coaches. In fact all
of the four sides have made it because of this.
If you were to draw up a shortlist of the top 5 coaches in
European football at this time it would be something like; Guardiola, Mourinho,
Ancelotti, Klopp and Simeone. No surprise that four of these five have reached
the semi-final this season. Consider also that in the past decade three of
these coaches have won the Champions League five times highlights who the best
coaches in modern football have been.
The old wise head
Carlo Ancelotti is seen as the old head in this group of modern and 'young' coaches. A two time Champions League winner with AC Milan in 2003 and 2007
(incredibly throwing away a third in 2005) pointed not only to Milan being the
best team of the early 2000’s but also his talents as a coach.
Perhaps his lack
of league titles in his time at Milan could be seen as a small negative but
there is no doubt that he was cut out for the biggest prize in European
football. His belief in a 4-4-2 diamond in a time when the game was heading for
4-2-3-1/4-3-3 formations pointed to his belief in his own philosophy and Milan would
prosper with the talents of Shevchenko, Rui Costa, Kaka, Pirlo, Inzaghi and
Crespo in their line up.
Yet importantly the team was built on strong
foundations with one of the best defences in world football. Ancelotti knew the
importance of this in his time as a player at Milan. Although Chelsea was not
as prosperous in Europe as he had wished Ancelotti is still considered one of Europe’s finest coaches.
His PSG side last season should have defeated a
weak Barca side like Bayern did and he paid for it somewhat with his job. Yet
he was too good not to be head-hunted for one of Europe’s biggest and most
demanding of roles at Real Madrid. To say he has improved on what Mourinho did
at the club is perhaps just too early to say, yet it is clear he has brought
stability and harmony to a club which was in turmoil during Mourinho’s final
year. He has also enhanced the side using a 4-3-3 system which has brought out the best in Di Maria and Modric in the centre of the pitch. The team now looks more balanced and focused and this blog has Madrid as
going all the way in Europe this season.
The most universal side ever?
Football is a relatively simple game; put the best players together along
with the best coach and you will tend to win a lot of trophies. This is what
Guardiola has proven in his in management these past six years. Yet it is not
as easy as that.
Guardiola is a visionary as well as being the most intelligent
and creative coach in world football. His approach is different to all others,
something which has left him somewhat isolated these past few years as the rise of
counter-pressing has taken over football. It is a compliment to him and his
philosophy that teams have sought to overcome Barca’s style, which has in turn helped to perfect
this counter-pressing philosophy.
Now at Bayern Guardiola has taken a side
which dominated everyone in its way last season, playing an athletic and varied
style which led them to be regarded as the ‘most complete side ever’ and he has turned
them into a model for the future game. Bayern this season have taken football
forwards tactically and technically, perhaps even more so than Barca did under
Guardiola. It is a move towards universality
which Guardiola sought at Barca yet which he quite never achieved.
Yet he needs to
win the Champions League this season to confirm his and Bayern’s 'best team (coach) ever' label, a feat however which has never been done in the new ‘Champions League’
format.
What Bayern have proven is that a long term strategy of evolution through
world class coaching; Van Gaal, Heynckes, Sammer and now Guardiola has gradually
built one of the most progressive and complete ‘teams’ in the history of the
game. This is a compliment to all those men who played a part in building this
machine, and most notably Uli Hoeness who was the architect of all this.
Bayern
are the blueprint for the future game, yet they will need to win the Champions
League to make this possible. A gambling man would put his money on Guardiola
to achieve this success as he has proven to be the most dominant coach in
Europe these past several years. Yet a certain Mr Mourinho may disagree.
Still the Special One
Incredibly Mourinho has reached the semi-final every season
as a minimum since 2010. It has given him the label of being a ‘serial semi-finalist’
which seems rather a myopic view to take as to be consistently in the final
four highlights his world class talent.
Yet of course not reaching the final with
Madrid was frustrating; being knocked out by Barca, Bayern and Dortmund in his
three years prevented Madrid's La Decima and his historic third with three sides. Success was expected at Madrid however and so to only reach the semi-final was
understandably seen as failure.
Yet surely his achievements with Chelsea this
season highlight his talents as a coach in a similar way he achieved success at
Porto and Inter. Say what you want about the money spent at Chelsea, for the
past few seasons it has been a club lacking stability, leadership (in a
coaching sense) and a philosophy.
A random transfer policy without much logic
yet with clear talent needed someone to pull it all together. For Mourinho to
have reached the final four with this group of players is an incredible achievement
and testimony to his talents as a coach.
Which is why it is extremely baffling
to consider that neither Man Utd, Man City or PSG believed he was suitable to
their clubs? There is no doubt in my mind that had Mourinho joined any of these
other clubs it would be them in the semi-final and not Chelsea. Had Mourinho
gone to United they would be the champions we saw last season and better for
his methods and approach. He would have known what they needed to strengthen
and motivated the key players who have lost their way under Moyes.
Had he
joined City he would have had the most prepared Mourinho side he could have
wished for, with the athleticism in midfield he craves along with the world
class finishing of Aguero. It was ready for Mourinho to take them further as a
club. A league success would have been a formality. A Champions League semi
more than possible. Except they chose the safer choice, the nice man, yet
perhaps not the ruthless winner they needed.
And finally PSG. Perhaps the
league did not suit Mourinho, who has always loved England and their fawning media,
however the team was built for him. Adding on from what Ancelotti had developed
Mourinho would have had his talisman Zlatan once more and perhaps this time
could have brought Zlatan that treasured European trophy he misses in his cabinet.
And yet these clubs only saw the negatives of what Mourino brings and not the
genius in his games, tactics and most importantly team building ability. They chose instead good but not great coaches and have suffered because of it.
Mourinho is proving their neglect wrong once more, a man who thrives underdog, and he may have to usurp the odds once more as Atletico Madrid are the favourites going into this semi-final.
El Cholo's revolution
Now his rival in this second leg appears to be the modern
version of Mourinho himself, perhaps an improved one? We are not sure of that yet. However he
has the swagger, charisma and tactical acumen which Mourinho has shown in his
time in management. The fact Atletico are anywhere near a Champions League
final as well as the La Liga title is all down to Simeone, that is
indisputable.
Ever since Simeone has come back to the club he played for he has
revolutionised, galvanised and inspired the fans and players to be winners, to believe.
A club which has been so unstable and lacking any kind of structure has now
been transformed by the Argentine coach.
Initially he had the talents of Falcao
to work with and his mid-season appointment brought the Europa League to the
club in 2012. After keeping Falcao the club were desperate for Champions League football and showed how much they had progressed early on in the season in the Super Cup with a 4-1 win
over Chelsea. Atleti looked organised, disciplined and ruthless on the break.
Simeone would achieve qualification for Europe’s top competition as well as
defeating Real in the Copa Del Rey final. Yet Falcao would move to Monaco and
the worry was how Atletico would react. Well it has become a case of Falcao
who?
This season Simeone has made the side even better, he brought in David
Villa from Barca and made Diego Costa his centrepiece of the attack, a player who had
progressed significantly under Simeone’s coaching the previous season. This
season he has taken his game to another level, arguably considered the best
forward in Europe (Suarez has a claim but a lack Champions League football
affects his claim) with his strength, skill and ability to score in important
games when he is needed most (a true mark of a world class player). The irony
is that he may be off to Chelsea next season yet before then he may prove to be
their undoing in these two legs.
What Simeone has achieved, and one only has to look at
quality and intensity of Atletico in the second leg versus Barcelona, is that
they are the most organised, tactically intelligent and most ruthless counter
attacking side in Europe this season. Last season it was Dortmund, yet Atleti
may be even better than Klopp’s side.
Impressively like Klopp he has achieved
this with little money and with a group of players who could deemed ‘rejects’
from elsewhere. His ability to motivate, inspire and have his players belief that
they can overcome sides like Barca, Madrid and others is testament to the kind
of coach Simeone is.
This is no fluke, just like Mourinho’s record of success
this is built on hard work, commitment and focusing on the small details. What
Mourinho’s and Simeone’s sides do out of possession is the most intriguing and
fascinating, they know how important team defending is, working as one whole
organism to achieve their goal of denying the opposition chances and goals.
Add
this to their obsession with transitions and both coaches are the modern
counter-attackers, the anti-thesis of Guardiola’s philosophy. Factor in their
detail and focus on set pieces and you have coaches who understand the
importance of every detail, every moment of a game. Just watch some of Simeone’s
creative free kicks this season to see how long they work on these moments, because
at this level, they are most often decided by set-pieces, and as they say, the
devil is in the detail.
All four coaches in the semi-final build their success from an intense study of the game and opposition, immense preparation and importantly, the ability to
communicate this to their players as well as motivate and inspire them. This is what sets these coaches apart and why it is them who have reached the final four of the Champions League.
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