Is Having A Tactically Astute Manager Really The Answer?

[villa-revolution]

A common theme & criticism levelled at practically every Villa manager over all the many years I have been attending Villa Park is that the manager {who ever he may be?) is tactically inept.

 

However, being tactically astute doesn't necessarily make you a great manager either.

 

Tommy Docherty, Vic Crowe, Ron Saunders, Tony Barton, Graham Turner, Billy McNeill, Graham Taylor Mk1, Dr Jo, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylor Mk2, David O' Leary, Martin O' Neill, Gerard Houllier, Big' Eck, Paul Lambert.

 

All those named above have managed the Club whilst I have followed our fortunes.

 

If you study that list carefully probably only Dr Jo & Houllier qualify for their tactical nous & genuine ability to make tactical decisions that can truly affect a game's outcome & turn it on it's head.

 

However, management is more than tactical nous & often the ability to motivate players far out weighs any tactical short comings.

 

In an ideal world you would have a manager who encompasses both of these aspects in abundance.

 

However, the reality is that most Managers over the years appear to be tactically ignorant so is it really such a big deal in the greater scheme of things for this to be part of a Managers remit as most clubs employ top coaches to cover tactical issues anyway?

 

Can someone please enlighten me on why all the fuss about tactics being employed?

Edited February 26, 2014 by villa-revolution

[maqroll]

Without tactics, you'd have no plan. Without a plan, you'd have no direction. Without direction, you'd have no order. Without order......you'd have chaos.

 

[Jimzk5]

We have no tactics. We don't play long ball because the forwards clearly don't work on it, we don't play passing football, we don't really do any thing but go out there and hope for the best

[cbr600rr]

its a blueprint.. if you have target man who is better in the air than on the deck you need to supply crosses from wide areas-its not rocket science

 

i think lambert is failing in areas v newcastle are .....marc albrighton was needed in that game,fans were singing marcs name, if lambert cannot see it were in trouble.

 

the best manager (sir alex) on the whole played 442 with 2 wide players,they have won plenty..their a clue their

 

avfc best football to date was with 2 wingers-young/downing.. 

 

how any manager cannot do the same 442 with TWO wingers is beyond me.

[briny_ear]

Funny, I would never have thought of using "nous" to describe the main qualities of Houllier or Dr Jo!

[Zatman]

we need a mix of both tactical vision and motivational abilities which is admittedly hard to find and dont think we have had since maybe Gregory

[mykeyb]

Tommy Docherty, Vic Crowe, Ron Saunders, Tony Barton, Graham Turner, Billy McNeill, Graham Taylor Mk1, Dr Jo, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylor Mk2, David O' Leary, Martin O' Neill, Gerard Houllier, Big' Eck, Paul Lambert.

 

All those named above have managed the Club whilst I have followed our fortunes.

 

If you study that list carefully probably only Dr Jo & Houllier qualify for their tactical nous & genuine ability to make tactical decisions that can truly affect a game's outcome & turn it on it's head.

 

Well Big Ron won a few trophies so he must have had something going for him.

[AndyM3000]

MON's tactics might not have been great but he knew what he wanted each player to do and they had a job.

 

Look at his midfield. Young/Downing/Barry/Petrov/NRC/Milner... Two out and out wingers, NRC as a ball winner who rarely went forward. Petrov and Barry both comfortable on the ball in the middle, do a job of helping NRC and getting the ball forward to wingers quickly. Milner starter to play a bit more forward but was all energy and would drift everywhere in the attacking third, very high work rate.

 

Yes now Lambert doesn't have these players so I am not saying the results should be the same but lets take a look at our midfield if you will. Gabby/Weimann, im classing these as midfielders now because well they aren't playing up front very often at all. Not wingers, no even wide players IMO, so what are they? Well I cant really figure it out. KEA/Delph/Westwood. Again, what are their jobs? I mentioned this before but I honestly couldn't tell you. None of them are set out to protect, none really get forward very well at all. They all do exactly the same thing IMO.

Edited February 26, 2014 by AndyM3000

[villabromsgrove]

The most technically minded coach/manager available at the moment (imo) is Glen Hoddle. He's not the most likeable man but he knows about coaching, training and setting teams up. All these things seem to be sadly lacking with the Lambert/Culverhouse partnership.

 

I'm not advocating that Hoddle should be Villa manager, I'm just pointing out that our current management seem clueless and lost for ideas.

[avfc1982am]

Being able to negate your opponents strengths and expose their weaknesses can be the difference between winning and losing. Many occassions this season Lambert has been undone by not responding to tactical formation/changes. Off the top of my head, If I look back over games such as West Ham, Spurs, Newcastle, I watched us continually get ripped open down the flanks with Lambert not lifting a finger to stop the problem. Everton away we defended to deep. I could go on.... Villa have been far too narrow the majority of this season - especially at home on a wide pitch. Yet week after week Lambert does nothing to resolve this issue. We don't create spaces, we play far too congested football, hence the lack of possession and clear chances during games.

 

Last season our fortunes(you could argue) changed against Newcastle at half time at home. The crowd gave the team stick, Lambert changed the formation and in the end we were unlucky to not get anything out the game. More importantly though the team played as if the shackles were finally off and we started to hurt teams by using the whole pitch not part of it . We seem to have regressed this season to pre Newcastle last year which is my biggest concern, especially for the run in.

 

I know it's easy to talk about problems and solutions in hindsight, however I would bet that a good 80-90% of Villa fans attending the games or watching on TV, see on the whole, the same problems even tactically, before, during and after the games. The thing I ask myself is why the hell doesn't Lambert?  If I'm honest the only time I have felt this season that Lambert got it tactically right mid game was against the baggies away with his subs.

 

For me many of the players are sht and not worthy of touching the shirt never mind wearing it, however I do believe with the right formations, tactical decisions and knowing the players limitations and strengths we should still be more comfortable points wise than we are- and playing better football.

[foreveryoung]

A common theme & criticism levelled at practically every Villa manager over all the many years I have been attending Villa Park is that the manager {who ever he may be?) is tactically inept.

 

However, being tactically astute doesn't necessarily make you a great manager either.

 

Tommy Docherty, Vic Crowe, Ron Saunders, Tony Barton, Graham Turner, Billy McNeill, Graham Taylor Mk1, Dr Jo, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylor Mk2, David O' Leary, Martin O' Neill, Gerard Houllier, Big' Eck, Paul Lambert.

 

All those named above have managed the Club whilst I have followed our fortunes.

 

If you study that list carefully probably only Dr Jo & Houllier qualify for their tactical nous & genuine ability to make tactical decisions that can truly affect a game's outcome & turn it on it's head.

 

However, management is more than tactical nous & often the ability to motivate players far out weighs any tactical short comings.

 

In an ideal world you would have a manager who encompasses both of these aspects in abundance.

 

However, the reality is that most Managers over the years appear to be tactically ignorant so is it really such a big deal in the greater scheme of things for this to be part of a Managers remit as most clubs employ top coaches to cover tactical issues anyway?

 

Can someone please enlighten me on why all the fuss about tactics being employed?

Would you rather watch how Villa play recently or Arsenal. Surely this has answered any thoughts on the importance of  tactical knowhow!!!

[briny_ear]

Funny really because I thought we were getting an ace tactician with Lambert - someone who seemed able to out think his opponents and adjust his game plan as needed. That seemed to be what he was doing with Norwich.

 

How wrong can you be?

[TRO]

A common theme & criticism levelled at practically every Villa manager over all the many years I have been attending Villa Park is that the manager {who ever he may be?) is tactically inept.

 

However, being tactically astute doesn't necessarily make you a great manager either.

 

Tommy Docherty, Vic Crowe, Ron Saunders, Tony Barton, Graham Turner, Billy McNeill, Graham Taylor Mk1, Dr Jo, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little, John Gregory, Graham Taylor Mk2, David O' Leary, Martin O' Neill, Gerard Houllier, Big' Eck, Paul Lambert.

 

All those named above have managed the Club whilst I have followed our fortunes.

 

If you study that list carefully probably only Dr Jo & Houllier qualify for their tactical nous & genuine ability to make tactical decisions that can truly affect a game's outcome & turn it on it's head.

 

However, management is more than tactical nous & often the ability to motivate players far out weighs any tactical short comings.

 

In an ideal world you would have a manager who encompasses both of these aspects in abundance.

 

However, the reality is that most Managers over the years appear to be tactically ignorant so is it really such a big deal in the greater scheme of things for this to be part of a Managers remit as most clubs employ top coaches to cover tactical issues anyway?

 

Can someone please enlighten me on why all the fuss about tactics being employed?

 

well for a start Tony Barton's forte was talent spotting and that was probably the main reason we did so well under Ron Saunders.

 

so, i too am not too sure about all this tactics lark.

[PuntersAdvice]

The problem is Villa have one style of play and opponents know what to expect and can arrive with a perfect gameplan for 90 minutes. One or two super sub type players are needed just as badly as 2 or 3 first team players.