The metamorphosis from player to manager

In recent times a lot has been made of the relatively large numbers of former Manchester United players plying their trade as managers in the top flight. And there is one thing they all have in common; they played under Sir Alex Ferguson. No other club and indeed no other manager can boast such a long list of former protegees that have successfully made the transition from boot room to head office. 

The media focus has primarily been on the bold and domineering characters such as keane and Ince. Men who made a huge impact on the field, in the dressing room and quite often a stink in public. Naturally fiery characters who were often described as being the embodiment of Ferguson on the field of play. It's interesting that this characterisation of the manager, as a brusque, fiercesome man, is the one that is most prevalent amongst journalists and in the pyshe of the average fan and no surprise therefore that Keane in particular is seen as his heir apparent.

But what is often not reported and what the people who have worked closely with him for over twenty years will tell you is that Ferguson is a man who is incredibly laid back, easy going and has a charm and warmth that has served him well with playing and coaching staff alike for years. That is of course, unless you piss him off........ This is a manager who has built his success on forging spirited team units, getting the best out of his players and forging a relentless winning mentality. The general lack of insuborination seen at Utd is more a testament to the respect and trust the players have in the manager rather than the general media perception that they are motivated by fear. Undoubtedly he can be a hard tasker master and undoubtedly he demands the highest standard not only in terms of performances and training but also in behaviour but he didn't get where he is today and accomplish all he has by being ogrish.

A perception you won't see readily reinforced in the press is of Ferguson having time to put a comforting arm around a struggling young player and uttering a kind word in his ear. What you won't see reported in the Sunday papers is a story about a manager always finding time to talk to his players about their future and concerns and what you certainly won't see splashed across the back page of the Sun is an "article" (quotations because this is 'The Sun' we are talking about) showing him laughing and joking with the playing staff. Yet this is exactly the type of Manager Sir Alex Ferguson really is. Knowing how to manage difficult egos and get the best out of troubled stars is a gift that has arguably brought Ferguson (indirectly) some of his greatest victories but it wasn't done by beating these characters into submissions, it was done by having exceptional man management skills and by being more of a father figure than a manager. But this is not the image of Ferguson that the media wants you to see and arguably that is because this is not an image of Ferguson that Ferguson wants you to see. As nurturing and disciplined as he can be with his own staff is as brusque and defensive as he can be with the outside world. This is the most plausible explanation for why so many have seen Keane as his heir apparrent but yet this ignores the fact that keane is one of those difficult egos he so expertly managed. Whereas Ferguson is a very different man behind closed doors by all reports keane is just as explosive and outspoken in the dressing room as he is in public. 

That's not the only thing that sets the elder man apart from his one time captain. He has consistently shown a keen (forgive the pun) hunger to learn and adapt his tactical style most clearly illustrated by his choice of assistants and the influence he gives them. Perhaps this is a trait Keane will acquire with time but at this moment he is by all acounts a man that is not receptive to the ideas of others, a problem that leads to explosive confrontations and poor working relationships. Contrary to popular opinion the famous Ferguson 'hairdryer' treatment is actually a remarkably rare occurence. With keane it was allegedly a daily one.

Of all of his former charges currently still in management it is perhaps the most unlikely candidate who can claim to be the most successful; Steve Bruce. Bruce is currently in the process of building an enviable project at Wigan on extremely limited resources (whilst Hughes struggles with unlimited ones a little down the road) and must surely get tremednous credit for what he has achieved so far. One could go as far as to say that he has far more in common with his one time boss than any of his more fashionable former colleagues. The fact that at the time of writing this article Wigan lie 7th in the premier League is not only a testament to his astuteness in the transfer market and an eye for talent (Zaki, Palacios, Valencia, Cattermole, Figueroa) but also his ability to get the best out of players most other clubs would consider surplus to requirements (Scharner, Bramble, Heskey, Taylor, Melchiot). How long they will be able to hold onto their lofty position is anyone's guess but Bruce must surely be considered as a better prospect to manage Utd in the future than any of Ince, Keane or Hughes.

And so what of the current crop of players heading towards retirment? How many of them will we expect to see move into management and will they be able to keep their heads above water long enough to survive the ruthlessness of modern charimen? Neville is probably the bookie's favourite to take that next step up but if this writer was a betting man he'd be putting his money on Ryan Giggs. If ever there was a player that was the embodiment of Ferguson, he's it. Relentlessly and tirelessy dedicated to the cause, calm and collect when he needs to be, fiercely passionate when required. He's done it all and seen it all. Insiders say that he has an intensity to him that few others can match. Given that he has been running up and down that Manchester Utd wing for 18 years as a first team regular, before reinventing himself as a central midfielder at the age of 35 is testament to the fact that this is least that must be true. Here is a player that is the epitome of the model professional. Mr. Manchester United if ever there was one. In that regards he puts the likes of Keane in the shadows. There is a thoughful intelligence about Giggs that sets him apart from most modern professionals and it comes as no surprise that he has been preparing himself for management for quite sometime. Whether he will decide to make that transition is yet to be seen but don't be surprised to see him added to the United backroom staff the same day he hangs his boots up. Here is a man that has an insatiable appetite for the game that never seems to be filled . Come to think of it that's just like someone else I know.......................

Do we expect too much too soon from young stars?

There used to be a time when we would gawk in wide eyed wonder as a precocious teenager burst onto the scene shredding experienced defenders and delivering a finish that belied their tender years. Now we seem to expect it.

There was talk recently of Theo Walcott not fulfilling his early promise and that perhaps Wenger had misjudged the extent of his ability. An uninformed observer would have been forgiven for thinking that the little wing wizard was now well into his twenties but the reality is that he is still a teenager and won't turn twenty until next march. An insatiable demand for success of course  is nothing new to the football world. We have been placing that requiement on managerial appointments for years and it's a condition that only becomes more chronic by the season but as this lack of patience (and arguably lack of foresight) reaches epidemic proportions, is it damaging the development of our brightest talents?

Already at Manchester United this season we have seen a steady yet increasingly vociferous chorus of criticism lambasting some of the clubs younger and higher profile imports. Nani in particular has been singled out with many seeing his inconsistent performances as being nothing short of an affront to the club and its fanbase. But when the player in question is twenty two years old and hasn't been given anything like a consistent run in the first team, whilst playing only his second season in a foreign division, is it not the criticism itself that is an affront to the good reputation of the club? A reputation after all that is built on the very thing we are in danger of killing.  

Some of the best players in the history of this illustrious football club have only gone on to be recognised as such because of the vision and patience of their manager. Would Paul Scholes be the old trafford legend he is today had Sir Alex Ferguson gone with popular opinion and discarded him based on his early performances? Many United fans seem to think that the double winning year which marked the breakthrough of 'Fergie's Fledglings', after a summer marked in memory by the contentious sales of Kanchelskis, Ince and Hughes, was the first we saw of those young players. Reality however paints a different picture. A certin young red headed man with a soft touch and short build had already made many appearances for United, mainly as a substitiute, and despite winning plaudits on occasion by the more informed of united observers, he was by and large vilified by most of the United faithful who were appalled at the thought of this lad becoming a first team regular. "Buy, buy, buy" was the call. A call repeated even more fervently the following summer. Yet what the manager saw in training and what he had seen in this youngsters' development told him that he had a star in the making. Why is it therefore that a club with a history of embracing youth development and molding it into a successful team, a club that truly revels in the development of its own players more than any other in a proud tradition that stems back to the legacy of the Busby babes, is still showing such petty minded impetuosuness for some of its current young talents? Perhaps it is because they are foreign.

Then again, maybe not. Just look at the abuse suffered by the likes of Darren Fletcher and John O'shea in recent years from an alarming large section of the United 'faithful'. Faithful they may be but enlightened they are not. One of the things that defines a club like United and has been an essential ingredient in the building and maintaining of a winning dynasty, has been the reinforcement and passing on of it's identity from squad generation to squad generation. Home grown players who not only understand what it means to be 'United' through and through but who are also willing to be a selfless part of the team have been critical to Sir Alex Ferguson's success. These are the players who are willing to put their own ambition and prospect of first team football on the back seat in order to make a selfless contribution towards the success of the club. Neither Fletcher nor O'shea will be spoken of in revential tones once their time has passed but their role as squad players, and very capable ones at that, has been grossly underestimated by some of the more reactionary and less analytical members of our fan base. One only needs to go to a message board after a galling defeat to see the nonsensical scapegoatism that takes place. Predictably it is always the same victims.

And now we have a new one. Nani. According to one blog I read in the last few days he is fit to be "thrown out on his ear and is a disgrace to the club". But why? Because by now he should be putting in world class performances? At what point though are we actually going to step back and temper our expectations by framing them within a more humanistic context? When are we going to remind ourselves that these are human beings with all the personal foibles that that entails rather than just statistics in Championship Manager or a set of revelatory clips on Youtube? Take Nani fir example. Here is a young man who recieved little formal education and came from an excrutiatingly poor background. The sort of poverty most of us in Western Europe are lucky enough to never have to experience or likely even witness. Most in his situation would have ened in a dead end job (if he was lucky), no job or worse jail. Yet Nani, by walking miles every day (as there was no car)  was supporting his entire family at age 15 once he signed papers with Sporting Lisbon. His family was blighted by racism having emigrated to Portugal from Cape Verde but yet by the age of 20 and with only one and a half seasons of first team football under his belt he was swept off to a foreign land and into the most competitive and media hyped club environments in the world.  He didn't speak the language and the man who brought him there, a man whom he quickly identifed as being a father figure and the only senior member of the club he signed for who spoke his native language, left merely a year after his arrival. Are we really therefore, in all our arrogance, that surpised that he is finding going a little tough?

In a football world where youth is constantly forced to perform immediately or wilt away in reserves or on a lesser stage, can United and their fans not stand up once again for rationality, progress and decency? Nani may never blossom into the player we hope him to be but isn't it still far too early to be making any sort of a judgement to the contrary not least because it adds to the already significant pressure placed on his development. It really does a disservice to ourselves, the player, the legacy of the Busby youth policy and our collective club ambitions.

Thankfully there is one man amongst us who has shown the patience, wisdom and pedigree to identify and nurture young players, as well as know when it is time to move them on. Thankfully for us he, and not 'Joe united' is still in charge.

Are fans behind the slow death of the playmaker?

It seems to me that modern football is rarely graced with the talents of exceptional playmakers in the way that it once was. The game today is dominated by and large by pace and power whilst the ability to read the game and pick a precise pass, once the most prized qualities, are no longer revered in the same tones.

This summer Manchester United signed Dimitar Berbatov for over thirty million pounds. Within weeks the gifted technician came under criticism for his languid, slow paced style with many fans blaming him for the team's loss of form. Statistically Berbatov has covered more ground in some games than many of his more vaunted team mates, he leads the team in interceptions and steals (an alien term to many football fans) and is light years aheads in terms of assists. Meanwhile his team mate Carlos Tevez, a man who has contributed very little in terms of goals and even less in ways of assists, remains a popular figure with the Old Trafford faithful. So much so in fact that many insist the Bulgarian should be dropped to the bench in favour of the Argentinian. So why do fans identify so much more with Tevez than they do with Berbatov? 

It takes a keen eye, a student of the game, an artist or an intelligent individual to identify the nuances, touches, movement and vision that makes one player better than another, whereas the average fan (usually fairly low on the evolutionary ladder) tends to identify more readily with old fashioned and obvious virtues such as work rate, passion and pace. I was fascinated to once read an article about a discussion Johan Cryuff had with several of the Dutch greats from the total football era such as Johan Neeskens. When asked who they thought was the most gifted dutch player of all time, they answered almost unanimously; Dennis Bergkamp. To the vast majority of football followers that might sound like an outrageous claim but consider the source. Who better to judge than the icons of Dutch football themselves. Here is a player who had a level of technical ability that most professionals can only ever dream of.

Of course pace and power are indispensable assets in this day and age but it is surely a shame that they are slowly making technical playmaking an endangered species. A footballing brain, when it is truely masterful of the game is a fabulous thing and can overcome many apparent physical limitations. Many years ago the youth team coaches at Atletico de Madrid released a young player called Raul because he was too weak. Real Madrid picked him up and you may think you know the rest of the story but the truth is that the Real coaches didn't think he had what it took to really make it in the first team. Whilst they acknowledged that he had exceptional technical ability and a fabulous reading of the game, they were concerned by his lack of pace, average shooting power and lack of physical strength. Yet years later despite not having any really outstanding physical qualities (a reason for which many people think he is over rated without ever understanding why he was actually so good) he is in many respects and in many peoples eyes a legend. Sir Alex Ferguson once described him as the perfect player and the player he would most love to sign in world football. Given his love of the technician (Cantona, Sheringham, Berbatov) this is high praise indeed.