The Boot Room


Issue 10 August 2014


Decision Making


Throughout the day there are constant decisions to be made with many discussions on team selection, tactical approach and the content of our training. All these discussions require consideration and analysis of the opposition, an understanding of the stage of the tournament as well as an assessment of the players’ fitness, availability and mood.


Often these discussions lead to more questions: Do we need to rotate the players to keep them fresh? How can we be sure of a player's fitness for the game? What should be the intensity of training? Reviewing the game and training footage brings more decisions: what is the most relevant information to feedback to the players?


Then there are lots of logistic considerations: What time are we leaving the hotel? What is the duration of training? What is the dress code for certain parts of the day?


As soon as the final whistle of the game goes more decisions follow: What is the content of the players debrief in the dressing room? What messages are we going to give in the media? Are the substitutes still going to train after the game? Should we stick to the plan or should we change it? What is right for the players?


It is natural that situations will occur that are not planned for and so the programme has to constantly change, but if you work off a plan it is easier for the change to happen. If there is no plan in the first place then the change can become problematic.


Know yourself


You’ve got to know yourself. Whilst we are away at a tournament there will be times when you may need to go to your room for twenty minutes without answering the phone. These are crucial moments to recharge, reflect and think things through.


Managing your energy is crucial and for a Head Coach the quality of your work is so important. You can’t draw from the well all the time, so sometimes you have to put something back in.


Pauses in the day can allow you to plan what you want to say in the next meeting or consider who it is important to speak to during that day and what needs to be said. The busy schedule dictates that you can’t have long discussions with all of the players every day, so you have to think about the key individuals and the key messages on particular days.


"In the same way that you give your players confidence, you have to give your staff confidence and show them that you trust them"


Help rationalise performance


Following a defeat most players focus on their faults. If a player did eight good things in a game, but made a mistake which gave a goal away they will almost always focus on the mistake. Appearing to suffer and sulk after a bad performance is part of football culture. I did it myself as a player but it is not one of my beliefs as a coach and looking back it definitely didn’t make me a better player.


I don’t like losing and will not accept losing without finding out the reasons why, but the tournament environment demands that you have to move on very quickly. It is important to take the lessons you have learned from the game, talk about them, but mentally you’ve got to move on before you return to the training ground and begin preparing for the next game.


You can’t hide the disappointment that sometimes comes with performance but there is a psychological process to understanding and rationalising it. The players’ experience of the event needs to be discussed and framed appropriately.


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