Comolli Sacked

[Kenneth]

I didn't really understand what that meant tbh. Seemed like a pretty precise figure on a pretty nebulous concept.

[Vermilion]

I didn't really understand what that meant tbh. Seemed like a pretty precise figure on a pretty nebulous concept.

Training a player to have more time on the ball ? weird, surely it's about creating and moving into space, then you'll have time on the ball.

[dww]

I agree with the Carragher extension wasnt cost efficient. However, Agger and Kuyt IMO was a good move

I think there could be good cases for both but it really depends on the level of wages. By all reports we increased our wage bill massively after finishing second with the extensions we gave out and I don't think that improved or even maintained the quality of the squad. I'm happy we kept those players but I suspect that the previous success and the fact that H&G were reducing the chances of new acquisitions meant we overpaid.

[danperkins]

I'd quite like him actually. Think he'd fit the team quite well. Obviously not hoping he is our big signing but a player like him who can score goals and contribute from a variety of positions would be a useful asset.

[Kenneth]

Training a player to have more time on the ball ? weird, surely it's about creating and moving into space, then you'll have time on the ball.

Yes, finding space but also controlling the ball quickly and spotting opportunities to run with the ball. But it's definitely 20%.

[Cormack74]

Fourth Official @Fourth_Official Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Damien Comolli - "One of the main problems is buying a big player from a small club, not many of them can handle it mentally"


I'd agree with this but he's saying it in hindsight and it's probably something he should already have been aware of IMO.

[magicalbarnes]

Fourth Official @Fourth_Official Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Damien Comolli - "One of the main problems is buying a big player from a small club, not many of them can handle it mentally"


I'd agree with this but he's saying it in hindsight and it's probably something he should already have been aware of IMO.

The thing is, the bigger clubs rarely sell to they're rivals unless of course the player has issues or is a dud.

But surely a majority of players signing for a big club are stepping up, so its up to the coaching staff to improve the players mentality.

[Mattshark]

Fourth Official @Fourth_Official Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Damien Comolli - "One of the main problems is buying a big player from a small club, not many of them can handle it mentally"


I'd agree with this but he's saying it in hindsight and it's probably something he should already have been aware of IMO.

It is hardly rocket science is it? I said it in the summer.

[Mattshark]

The thing is, the bigger clubs rarely sell to they're rivals unless of course the player has issues or is a dud.

But surely a majority of players signing for a big club are stepping up, so its up to the coaching staff to improve the players mentality.

You can usually tell which players will step up though, you could look at Downing and see he was wasn't the player to make the step up.

He never has been consistent:
Prem Assitsts
11/12:0
10/11:7
09/10:1
08/09:3
07/08:9
06/07:5
05/06:7
04/05:4
03/04:11
02/03:1

[Rowan]

You can usually tell which players will step up though, you could look at Downing and see he was wasn't the player to make the step up.

He never has been consistent:
Prem Assitsts
11/12:0
10/11:7
09/10:1
08/09:3
07/08:9
06/07:5
05/06:7
04/05:4
03/04:11
02/03:1

Not to mention the simpler fact that anyone who has ever seen him (bar apparently Kenny and Comolli) could see that he's proper ****e like

[Mattshark]

Not to mention the simpler fact that anyone who has ever seen him (bar apparently Kenny and Comolli) could see that he's proper ****e like

[el matador]

Fourth Official @Fourth_Official Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Damien Comolli - "However clubs only focus roughly 20% of their time on training their academy players to have more time on the ball"

This is the comment that makes me

So true. Even at Liverpool (with Borrell) you look at half the U18s and they can't pass for sh*t. They probably could before they came, but its all drilled out of them just so they can concentrate on getting stronger and staying in position.

with respect chief, the lads by 18 should already be technically able because the technical work is done from the age of 8 onwards. By the age of 18 you expect players to be able to control a ball and pass it correctly because of a solid 8-10 years coaching focused on technique. When players join come up from the reserve team to 1st team the coach knows that the player has the basics mastered.

I speak from experience when I say that as players move higher up the ladder through academy, through reserve to 1st team they do less and less ball work because its much more about tactics, patterns of play and shape.

Being realistic, once a player goes beyong 18 its very difficult to improve them technically because they dont have the time to re-adjust their technique as well as doing all the tactical stuff. If by 18 he cant control or pass it properly theres a very good chance that he never will.

[saj]

You can usually tell which players will step up though, you could look at Downing and see he was wasn't the player to make the step up.

He never has been consistent:
Prem Assitsts
11/12:0
10/11:7
09/10:1
08/09:3
07/08:9
06/07:5
05/06:7
04/05:4
03/04:11
02/03:1

**** me! I didn't realise his stats were that bad. Billy Beane would have a heart attack if he saw those

[el matador]

in terms of coaching i will say this. in spain elite academy players pre-16 receive approx 15 hours of technical coaching each week.

In england its down to just 5. Yes there is a gap between what the continent does and what we do. thats why we dont produce many technically able footballers.

[BootRoom]

Not seen this posted anywhere and although not about Comolli it's sort of connected to the mini cull...

It's a bit surprising because I thought Rafa was supposed to be Mr. Methodical and had this sort of stuff under control.

English Soccer’s Care of Millionaire Players Behind Elite

English Premier League soccer clubs spend more on acquiring players than teams in other countries, yet trail continental rivals when it comes to looking after those expensive assets, trainers and doctors say.

“Compared to the rest, we’re probably catching up,” Dr. Peter Brukner, the Australian who oversaw 18-time champion Liverpool’s medical services, said in an interview. “Italians have always been pretty good in this area. I think the Spanish are pretty good in the way they look after their players and I think we’ve been a bit behind.”

Brukner left Liverpool last month, about two years after joining from Australia’s national soccer team. His appointment in March 2010 followed criticism of the club’s sports-medicine department by former players and ex-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks. According to website physioroom.com, a U.K.-based aggregator of injury news, Liverpool has suffered the lowest number of injuries in the 20-team league since the start of the season.

“It’s all very well spending millions and millions of pounds on players but you have to do everything you can to ensure those players are out on the pitch rather than the medical room,” Brukner said. “It’s a simple matter of a looking after your assets.”
Making Changes

Managers in English soccer have a tradition of replacing backroom staff, including doctors and physiotherapists, with individuals they’ve worked with in the past, according to Mike Davison, U.K. managing director for sports medicine company Isokinetic, who’s recruited medical personnel for Champions League finalist Chelsea and advised England’s Football Association. Brukner started work about six months before current Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish.

“The quality of doctors and physiotherapists in the Premier League is as high anywhere in the world but they work in suboptimal conditions,” said Davison, who described a recent example where Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish replaced the club’s doctor Mark Waller without ever working with him and brought in a former colleague Dr. Ian McGuinness from Birmingham City, his previous club, as a replacement. Aston Villa spokesman Brian Doogan didn’t immediately return a voicemail message.

Graham Taylor, a former Villa manager and also coach of the England national team between 1990 and 1993, said managers shouldn’t be responsible for medical appointments.

“The doctor belongs to the club not the manager,” he said in an interview.
‘Continuity’

Doctors need to have “a continuity of work,” Jiri Dvorak, chief medical officer at soccer’s governing body FIFA, said in an interview. “They know the team.”

In English soccer the average tenure of a manager is 14 months, according to Davison. That often means disruption to the medical departments, something that happens less frequently overseas. Real Madrid and Juventus historically keep medical teams for between 10 and 12 years, he said.

“In that time the number of managers and presidents will have exceeded 11 or 12 in both instances,” Davison said. “Having a platform of stability is certainly important when it comes to the health of footballers.”

Sanitas, a private-medical company, started running Real’s medical team about four years ago.

Teams must “develop the highest-quality medical staff independent of the manager,” Brukner said. His departure, he said, was the club’s decision.
‘Trust and Faith’

“I would rather not comment on the relationship with the manager,” he added when asked about Dalglish.

Still, speaking generally, he said, “If the manager doesn’t have trust and faith in the medical staff then it’s a very difficult situation.”

Gillett, Liverpool’s co-owner, had railed at the number of injuries the team was suffering. Brukner said before he got to the club it had no “gym culture” and “there wasn’t a lot of fitness work done.”

As well as having fewer injuries than their opponents, Liverpool’s players also run on average 14 percent more than their rivals each game, the Daily Telegraph said April 19. The results have come on the back of spending on staff and infrastructure that’s less than the average annual wage of a Premier League player, Brukner said.
Injury Prevention

Liverpool’s players now work on injury prevention, something that wasn’t done previously. Antonio Acedo, who worked as a physiotherapist at Real Madrid between 1981 and 2008, said “80 percent of the work” done at the Spanish club focuses on prevention. Cristiano Ronaldo, who’s scored 43 goals this season for Real, does as much as five hours a week in the weight room to help guard against injuries, Acedo said.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, 31, has missed much of the last two seasons through injury, mainly to his groin. Brukner says the midfielder’s chances of extending his career have been boosted by a change to his fitness regime.

“It may come back to bite me, that statement, but he’s certainly doing everything he should to improve his chances of prolonging his career,” he said

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...ind-elite.html