I hadn't thought of the new leadership as a bunch of corporate consultant types before, but you may be right. I remember seeing somewhere -- oh yes, plastered all over the stadium -- that "the game is about glory." My only hope is that the Lewis kids, being a bunch of rich people who want to have fun with their new toy, go for it and try to make Spurs glorious...
Sharp critique of the optimization fallacy in football managemnt. The parallel to corporate restructuring hiding opportunity costs is dead accurate, and the point about elite players refusing to accept defensive posture hits home. I've watched similar dynamics play out in other clubs where analytics-driven recruitment clashed with player expectations. The psychological dimension you raise about alienating talent is underrated, especially when those players have Champions League experience elsewhere.
There’s recently been a sort of revision of managers like Sam Allardyce now that set pieces are en vogue. And one of my half-baked conjectures is whether the same could happen in future with some of the old school managers like Harry Redknapp, as sports psychology becomes more prominent?
Harry was much-maligned for his FRAAB tactical approach (“fackin’ run about a bit!”) but maybe FRAAB isn’t the worst instruction for professional footballers, at least some of the time? As we’ve seen from the recent player mutiny at Real Madrid, one thing that’s clear is the same approach with one set of players at one club doesn’t necessarily just translate to another set of players at another club. And maybe Tottenham Hotspur just isn’t the place for rigid, positional, micro-managed tactical football that might work perfectly well somewhere else?
Indeed, all of this, but I also question the ceiling of Frank's style of football anywhere. It's a totally different prospect to keep an underdog side comfortable in mid-table than to play the kind of football that will challenge at the top of the table.
I hadn't thought of the new leadership as a bunch of corporate consultant types before, but you may be right. I remember seeing somewhere -- oh yes, plastered all over the stadium -- that "the game is about glory." My only hope is that the Lewis kids, being a bunch of rich people who want to have fun with their new toy, go for it and try to make Spurs glorious...
I suspect glory is what they want; the questions is will they figure out how to get it (beyond spending).
Sharp critique of the optimization fallacy in football managemnt. The parallel to corporate restructuring hiding opportunity costs is dead accurate, and the point about elite players refusing to accept defensive posture hits home. I've watched similar dynamics play out in other clubs where analytics-driven recruitment clashed with player expectations. The psychological dimension you raise about alienating talent is underrated, especially when those players have Champions League experience elsewhere.
Thank you! Was venturing a bit outside my comfort zone there re. corporate culture.
I recommend "The Unaccountability Machine" by Dan Davies. Also, surely Ben Davies wrote something on this for his degree
Brilliant. Absolutely correct.
Well written. Thanks!
There’s recently been a sort of revision of managers like Sam Allardyce now that set pieces are en vogue. And one of my half-baked conjectures is whether the same could happen in future with some of the old school managers like Harry Redknapp, as sports psychology becomes more prominent?
Harry was much-maligned for his FRAAB tactical approach (“fackin’ run about a bit!”) but maybe FRAAB isn’t the worst instruction for professional footballers, at least some of the time? As we’ve seen from the recent player mutiny at Real Madrid, one thing that’s clear is the same approach with one set of players at one club doesn’t necessarily just translate to another set of players at another club. And maybe Tottenham Hotspur just isn’t the place for rigid, positional, micro-managed tactical football that might work perfectly well somewhere else?
Indeed, all of this, but I also question the ceiling of Frank's style of football anywhere. It's a totally different prospect to keep an underdog side comfortable in mid-table than to play the kind of football that will challenge at the top of the table.
Fair play A