The writing blog of David Stringer
Shortly after the sacking of Roberto Martinez, and before the appointment of Manuel Pellegrini, representatives from Manchester City started talking about ‘holistic management’. They got a decent amount of mockery about this, from fans and the mainstream media.
Writing for Bornoffside, in a piece published yesterday, I took a look at what the term means, and why the club think it’s important.
Click here to read Let Go of Your Doubts, and Embrace Holistic Management
A little earlier in the week, an article I’d written was published by BornOffside.
Following the abdication of Alex Ferguson, not just from the manager’s office at Manchester United, but as the working figure with the greatest influence over the English game, that role is now up for grabs.
Will Moyes, who’s never won a trophy, rise to the extra pressure? Will Mourinho recreate his earlier success at Chelsea? How will Andre Vilas-Boas and Brendan Rogers build on impressive but mixed first years at their clubs?
For years, the idea of Alex Ferguson and Manchester United being on top seemed to be the default status quo – if they didn’t win the title one year, the feeling was that they would next year.
But now, there is the possibility of real change. The landscape of English football could look very different this time next year.
This was before the fixture list revealed that Manchester United would play Chelsea on the opening day, and Arsenal made an ambitious move to sign Gonzalo Higuain – if anything, the points I made have been underlined since.
Click here to read Who Will Set the Standards for the Premier League?
Over at Squawka, I’ve just written two articles, both of which went up on Thursday.
With Arsenal’s Lukas Podolski a year into his career at the Emirates, a year in which he’s scored a pretty respectable 11 goals, bids have come in, from Borrussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.
I took a statistical look at Podolski’s season, his strengths and weaknesses, as well as his style.
Click here to read Podolski Rubbishes Transfer Speculation But Should Arsenal Consider A Bid?
Also, with Manchester United’s Nani being linked with bids from Monaco and Galatasary, I took a look at how he’s performed this past season. I was surprised how often he was available but not selected in the big matches, and how long he’d been out injured.
Click here to read Should Moyes Consider Bid For Perennially Promising Manchester United Winger?
News is coming through this lunchtime that Roberto Martinez wants to leave Wigan, shortly after leading them to both the biggest triumph of his career (an FA Cup win) and a biggest relative failure of his short and impressive career (relegation from the Premier League).
It’s easy to look at this as the manager leaving a sinking ship, but the infrastructure will still be pretty good, and Wigan have a number of players who can play ‘the Wigan way’. On the other hand, the next boss will have to work in the shadow left by Martinez’ reputation – he’s almost certainly both the most successful manager in the club’s history, as well as the creator of their most stylish football.
You’d think, on paper, that leaving last summer would have been better for the club, but would it? The new boss would have to take over a club that had punched above it’s weight to a degree, with many people doubting whether Martinez’s record of style and substance could be matched. A sense of decay, of internal division, would almost be inevitable… but the new manager next season will take over a club who have faith in their ability to return to the top flight, and who realise that changes will need to be made, changes that may take time to pay off. So which option is the better really?
At the other end of the spectrum, Pep Guardiola will inherit a finely tuned Bayern Munich squad, one that has won the league and European Cup, dropping only 11 league points, and will probably be the first German team to win the treble. And, of course, his rivals’ star player is on the way.
But the pressure will be enormous – how can he top his predecessor?
Alex Ferguson has left Manchester United on a high, but David Moyes will need to deal with underperforming wingers, a dissatisfied Wayne Rooney, and a central midfield where only Michael Carrick is anywhere close to being ‘world class’ on a consistent basis. He’ll need to make significant changes, while being careful not to disrupt the winning mentality that’s dragged his new club to titles they shouldn’t have won several times.
So, when’s the least disruptive time to leave? Any option is fraught wih dangers, not just for the manager, but for the club, and the pressures placd on the new man. That’s the truth about loyalty.
This article first appeared at SportLobster at midday on Tuesday 28th.
In October, with QPR rock bottom of the Premier League, Mark Hughes was replaced as manager by Harry Redknapp.
Despite some big name signings in the summer who’d be underperforming under Hughes (Jose Bosingwa, Esteban Granero) existing talent (Adel Taarabt, Djibril Cisse) and January signings of Redknapp’s (Chris Samba, Loic Remy), QPR went down. Redknapp is well known as a social guy with friends in the media, so the common angle has been that Redknapp couldn’t do enough to save them.
But how true is this? Writing for Squawka, I’ve taken a statistical look at different parts to QPR’s style of play, looking at how they’ve performed under both men.
Click here to read Redknapp’s Lack of Impact at QPR
Writing for Squawka, I’ve written a statistical analysis of Sunday’s match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United – a mad game that ended in a five all draw.
Click here to read my stats-based match report.
New on Squawka today, I’ve taken a look at Manchester City’s captain, Vincent Kompany. Absolutely dominant last year as City inched ahead of Manchester United for the Premier League title, he’s looked a little disappointing to me this season.
Not bad in any way, just disappointing, compared to last year.
I’ve broken down the various aspects of his game, this year and last, looking for differences and similarities.
Click here to read Is Vincent Kompany A Player in Decline?
In another thing I wrote which was published today, writing for Squawka I took a look at the best players to step up from the Football League to the Premiership this season.
I took a look at the five best, breaking down their performances – Aston Villa and Southampton players feature heavily.
Click here to read Top Five Best Newcomers to the Premier League
On Friday, nominations for the PFA Player of the Year award, and PFA Young Player of the Year award were announced – the winners will be announced at an event on April 29th.
Writing for Squawka in an article published yesterday, I’ve looked at what the Squawka Performance Scores have to say on the Premier League’s top young players, and looked deeper at Squawka’s statistical breakdowns, to see what else the stats have to say about the quality and style of the top 5 players.
The Squawka Top 5 young players has some of the same players the PFA members have nominated, but some that have been overlooked – this includes one tidy but not eye-catching player I like, who wasn’t nominated. More importantly, there’s no place for Danny Welbeck in the top 5, which I’d argue makes my/Squawka’s list more legitimate than the PFA’s.
Click here to read Squawka’s YPOTY Shortlist
Writing for Squawka earlier today, I’ve taken a look at some of the goalkeepers Arsenal are rumoured to be interested in pursuing, comparing their performances from a statistical perspective.
Rene Adler, Victor Valdes, Asmir Begovic, Pepe Reina, Michel Vorm and Petr Cech are amongst those who’ve been linked, and I’ve also looked at Wojciech Szczesny, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone – the three keepers used by Arsenal this season.
I’ve compared their goals conceded and clean sheets; their amount of saves made; success in claiming balls into the box and their distribution.
Click here to read my statistical look at who Arsenal’s next keeper should be.
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