Starnes: "There's Madness in the Mitchell Method"

[sstackho]

Geez, shouldn't you Ottawa Voyageurs have posted this two days ago?

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

Sports

There's Madness in the Mitchell Method

Richard Starnes

The Ottawa Citizen

1025 words

18 October 2008

Ottawa Citizen

Early

C7

English

Copyright © 2008 Ottawa Citizen

This week, England coach Fabio Capello told his players there would be no more long balls while he was in charge. No more hacking the ball up the middle and hoping for the best. What he demanded was keeping the ball on the ground, making the passes slick, the control tight and creating the space to play the game with speed and precision.

Are you listening, Dale Mitchell?

If Canada's coach had followed even one piece of this mantra, we might not now be floundering around at the bottom of our qualifying group, embarrassing fans across the country by our abject failure to make the World Cup finals in South Africa.

No matter what he might say today, Mitchell's style does encompass the long ball. He has told me it should be at least part of the ammunition a team has tucked in its attacking gun chamber.

If you watch the way Canada has played since Mitchell was put in charge, there has been precious little slick passing, woeful exhibitions of ball control, far too little moving off the ball to create space. No wonder he has won only three times in 13 tries -- twice against St. Vincent and The Grenadines and once against Martinique, neither of which is exactly an international powerhouse.

I know it is easy to blame the coach. But that comes with the job and this is a coach -- widely considered not to be the first choice for the position when he got it -- who has been unable to get the job done.

I will say Canada looked a good deal better in a 2-2 tie with Mexico on Wednesday. But I put that down to individual players being determined not to be embarrassed again rather than a serious change in tactics.

Tomasz Radzinski, the elder statesman in this squad, was particularly impressive. He ran, he worked, he found open space, he used his speed, he even cajoled his teammates as if he were the coach. This is a man who was dumped by Fulham last year and is now playing in Belgium. Any lower-end English Premier League team would be wise to give him a call.

Back to Mitchell's woes.

He says he will not offer his resignation even though serious cracks have begun to show in the dressing room. Long-time international Jim Brennan is refusing to play for his country again while Mitchell is in charge, and there has been an equally serious rift with one of our best -- attacking midfielder Dwayne de Rosario.

The Houston star obviously can't abide the Mitchell method and, in return for his public criticism, he was left out off the squad for the Mexico game.

My most powerful memory from this qualifying flop has been watching Julian de Guzman, a midfielder talented enough to be voted player of the year last season by his Spanish La Liga team Deportivo.

The best midfielder ever to pull on a Canadian shirt became a picture of frustration. His job was to be the playmaker, the man who controlled the pace of play, the man who made the midfield tick. But time after time after time, he was left holding the ball under pressure with nobody to pass to, no colleague moving into the space that Capello talks about.

Uncountable were the number of times he was forced to push the ball back, often as far as his goalkeeper. That is a fundamental flaw in any game plan, and it never changed.

In theory, Canada has the most talented midfield in its history. De Guzman, Atiba Hutchinson and de Rosario are wonderful players. But they have to be able to work within a well-designed structure and Mitchell, I am sad to say, has failed to provide it.

But we should not lay all the blame at his door. The Canadian Soccer Association must accept its share.

Mitchell tells us he knows how little cash there is to go around for all the international teams the CSA is meant to be promoting. That may be. But we are all tiring of that argument. If there is insufficient money to get to where we want to, why does the CSA keep telling us the top priority is getting Canada to the World Cup finals?

Having a wonderfully robust recreational soccer army in this country -- well into the 800,000s -- is one thing. Advancing the standard of the game is quite another.

Here are a couple of suggestions.

CSA general secretary Peter Montopoli is primarily a marketing man. He needs to use these considerable skills to find extra funding and then to steer it in the right.

Canada will not progress without a coach with considerable international experience. If I asked Montopoli how much money there was for the right coach, he would rightly tell me if you have to spend the money to get the right results, that's what must be done.

Former CSA boss Colin Linford tried that once before with Brazilian Rene Simoes and the association board turned its back. Simoes was subsequently hired and fired by Jamaica and replaced by John Barnes, former English international and Celtic coach.

Here's a name of two I will throw out:

- Glen Hoddle -- former England international and England coach;

- Guus Hiddink -- presently with Russia, formerly with South Korea and Australia to name a few;

- Gerard Houllier -- one-time Liverpool boss now with the French FA.

These men may be expensive, but if you want to win you need the best, or as close as you possibly can to it. The only proviso is that the CSA board sits hands off the man. He is here to coach the team and only to coach the team. Do not, repeat not, embroil him in the internal politics. It's a killer.

Richard Starnes' Beautiful Game column appears Saturdays. Send comments and suggestions to rstarnes@thecitizen.canwest.com . or sportsletters@thecitizen.canwest.com . For daily soccer news go to Richard Starnes' blog at ottawacitizen.com.

[Richard]

Well said.

[Eric]

quote:Originally posted by sstackho

If there is insufficient money to get to where we want to, why does the CSA keep telling us the top priority is getting Canada to the World Cup finals?

I love this line, so so true. It's just the CSA misleading the fans...

[ag futbol]

Starnes 1 - long ball 0.

Now if only he could throw the book at TFC. I want to gouge my eyes out watching those balls over the top.

[Soju]

Good article. This guy has been paying attention. This long ball crap is the fundamental difference between the team under Hart and Mitchell.

[Moosehead]

He must be new to Canadian soccer. The CSA doesn't have the money to hire anything like, name a well known Euro Manager, as it would take up 80% of their budget. Who is going to invest/donate/sponsor the CsA with their record of bureaucratic mediocrity. Where is the vision for sponsors to come on board.

[Grizzly]

Generally I like Starnes' articles but I think he is way off the mark on this one. I don't think longball should be the style we favour but I agree with Mitchell that there are times where it can be beneficial to use it. I also don't think we used it too much during this WCQ or that it was the reason we failed to qualify. In fact, I thought we passed the ball quite a bit but the main problem was the quality and speed of passing was not good enough and that we lost possession too often particularly our "most talented midfield in history". I think there is also a lot of things that can't be blamed on Mitchell and the tendency to lose possession easy points to problems in the skills of this "most talented midfield". DDR is also not one of our best, he has always disappointed for the national team regardless of the coach. He may be one of the best players in the MLS but he is not one of the best Canadian national team players.

I agree that Mitchell failed in a lot of areas and needs to be fired and replaced by a good international manager. However, I don't see what the journalisitic purpose is of naming three coaches who we obviously can't afford and who probably wouldn't want the job even if we could. It doesn't take a lot of football knowledge to name three of the most famous and successful managers. A much more useful and interesting thing to do would be to write an article on some less well known but well qualified managers who we might be able to afford and who might be interested in the job.

[Toronto MB]

Here's a little bit of my own marketing madness I have been bouncing around.

What about a coaching sponsorship?

The best marketing lately has been less about traditional advertising as it has been about direct sponsorship, and creation of brand "events". Yes a company like Adidas or BMO wants to throw their name up on a board at a game, but that only goes so far, and does nothing to seperate their brand from the rest.

What if the CSA could engineer a "coaching sponsorship". Let's take Air Canada as a candidate, just for arguments sake.

So say Air Canada dedicates $500, 000 CAD a year to the CSA in funds ONLY usable for payment of a world-class manager as agreed upon by the board, the secretary and a unit of 3 player representatives.

In recognition of Air Canada's contribution the CSA:

- Organise an Air-Canada-centric press release and press conference when the signing is announced. This allows Air Canada's contribution to be directly recognized every time Canada takes to the pitch with a class manager. An important distinction from general advertising money.

- Then come all the little things: everytime "manager x" speaks to the press he does so with the Air Canada logo behind him, Air Canada has exclusive advertising rights on our dug-out, etc...

Canadian companies are always looking for ways to show they "directly sponsor" our athletes. I think this would be a unique advterising avenue, and with the largely-untapped soccer market with no connection to our national tram, an inteligent advertiser should recognise if they can get in at a ground level and help this team get to a World Cup, it could be a great opporuntity for them.

[gator]

^ Sounds like a reasonable idea, however we're years away from a meaningful WC match and who knows what the economy will be like in about 3 years time! I agree we really need a top notch coach with some pedigree to get this program out of the doldrums, I'm just not sure if any of the top coaches would be interested, no matter how much money we can muster up! I agree with Griz that the names the author mentioned would unfortunately be way out of our league!

[Keano]

quote:Originally posted by Toronto MB

Here's a little bit of my own marketing madness I have been bouncing around.

What about a coaching sponsorship?

The best marketing lately has been less about traditional advertising as it has been about direct sponsorship, and creation of brand "events". Yes a company like Adidas or BMO wants to throw their name up on a board at a game, but that only goes so far, and does nothing to seperate their brand from the rest.

What if the CSA could engineer a "coaching sponsorship". Let's take Air Canada as a candidate, just for arguments sake.

So say Air Canada dedicates $500, 000 CAD a year to the CSA in funds ONLY usable for payment of a world-class manager as agreed upon by the board, the secretary and a unit of 3 player representatives.

In recognition of Air Canada's contribution the CSA:

- Organise an Air-Canada-centric press release and press conference when the signing is announced. This allows Air Canada's contribution to be directly recognized every time Canada takes to the pitch with a class manager. An important distinction from general advertising money.

- Then come all the little things: everytime "manager x" speaks to the press he does so with the Air Canada logo behind him, Air Canada has exclusive advertising rights on our dug-out, etc...

Canadian companies are always looking for ways to show they "directly sponsor" our athletes. I think this would be a unique advterising avenue, and with the largely-untapped soccer market with no connection to our national tram, an inteligent advertiser should recognise if they can get in at a ground level and help this team get to a World Cup, it could be a great opporuntity for them.

This type of thing would be the only way, barring a joint donation from the big soccer-supporting business families Saputo Kerfoot Nash et al. Unfortunately for a big company to spend that kind of money on a sponsorship deal we'd have to be in meaningful matches with a certain viewership... like WCQ Hex matches....

[VPjr]

Great article by Starnes. Well reasoned. Well thought out.

Sadly, this WCQ is history now. What I wonder is whether:

a) will lessons be learned so we avoid a repat of this disaster (and I don't mean just the hiring of the wrong coach)

and

will there be enough money in place in 2-3 years to hire a properly qualified coach who will organize the group he's given and try to get us into WC2014.

[youllneverwalkalone]

quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Generally I like Starnes' articles but I think he is way off the mark on this one. I don't think longball should be the style we favour but I agree with Mitchell that there are times where it can be beneficial to use it. I also don't think we used it too much during this WCQ or that it was the reason we failed to qualify. In fact, I thought we passed the ball quite a bit but the main problem was the quality and speed of passing was not good enough and that we lost possession too often particularly our "most talented midfield in history". I think there is also a lot of things that can't be blamed on Mitchell and the tendency to lose possession easy points to problems in the skills of this "most talented midfield". DDR is also not one of our best, he has always disappointed for the national team regardless of the coach. He may be one of the best players in the MLS but he is not one of the best Canadian national team players.

I agree that Mitchell failed in a lot of areas and needs to be fired and replaced by a good international manager. However, I don't see what the journalisitic purpose is of naming three coaches who we obviously can't afford and who probably wouldn't want the job even if we could. It doesn't take a lot of football knowledge to name three of the most famous and successful managers. A much more useful and interesting thing to do would be to write an article on some less well known but well qualified managers who we might be able to afford and who might be interested in the job.

Thank you! I wanted to write this exact post but couldn't find the time or the words. Very naive article in many ways.

I would only add that UEFA and CONCACAF are not directly comparable. We saw a real oddity with Honduras and they way they approach the tempo of the game. Slow, quick, slow, quick. This type of play makes it more difficult to defend their counter attack, and much more difficult to keep ball on the ground anywhere near the attacking third. They are also a very pragmatic team who will do what they have to to succeed. I haven't really watched Guatemala, CR, or Panama lately, but if this is what we are to expect from the region, we have some trouble ahead that makes me cautious to appoint a continental or UK manager. Perhaps one suggestion where he is correct is with the Italian manager. However, I would argue we want a Trappatoni type, rather than Capello. Italians do have a great approach to tempo, particularly as it applies to defending and counter-attack.

[redhat]

Regarding the comment about the coaching suggestions, I would only say

that they are BEYOND the reach of many nations, including Canada.

I do hope they would look for someone with an INTERNATIONAL pedigree in

coaching. Like those African countries that hired Troussier or Metsu ...

[hodgkiss]

im telling u man - i mentioned this a couple of months back... the best thing that we could do is create a reality show to hire canada's next mnt coach. money would come in boat loads from corporations and we the public would have the final say in who is made coach. everyone would be happy.

[Obinna]

quote:Originally posted by dsqpr

This is a rambling article by somebody who clearly does not know very much about football. There is nothing wrong with route one football. Your tactics should depend on the strengths and weaknesses of your team and your opponents. Whatever gives you the best chance to win. We have two decent target men, so route one does make a bit of sense for us.

Good point, however, our true strength was a fluid passing game, especially in the midfield. Yes, Rob Friend and Ali Gerba "could" facilitate route one football, but in order for the team to adjust to this style, there obviously has to be a learning curve. Problem is, international football (especially for Canada), extends this learning curve, because games are few and far between. If this was a club playing and training every day, we may have seen success playing with this style. We do have the tools up front.

However, the best thing would have been to keep the fluid passing game with plenty of movement off the ball, but switch it up from time to time utilizing the strength of our targetmen. This is exactly what we done against Brazil.

I remember watching the game against Jamacia at BMO and feeling like we focused too much on the long ball from the back (esp kulkowski). Perhaps this was because DM pushed more for the long ball in our opening game(less risk of turnovers in midfield)? Perhaps this was just a result of Jamacia clogging the midfield? Mabye both.

[youllneverwalkalone]

^Jamaica close down in the opposition half and play a quick tempo, counter type game. Add the plastic pitch and it's harder to keep the ball on the ground.

If we sit here, and with a straight face, try to claim that Mitchell cost us a chance at qualification by sacrificing our "fluid" passing game for longball, we've lying to ourselves. It's simply a fantasy.

First, our passing skills overall are average to below average for CONCACAF. When we play Brasil, or Spain, or Portugal in a friendly, they allow us to have the ball, something we find less of against our opponents in competition -who are also more organised and more committed behind the ball.

Second, to state Klukowski played a different game against Brasil is not accurate. How did Friend score the first goal? Longball from Klukowski. He is the best fullback we have and his preference is always direct.

Finally, we all remember some great passing in the Gold Cup, but the fact remains that Hart had us playing direct football out of the back -albeit at a slightly lower tempo. Playing a ball to a target man is a means to gain possession in the attacking third. Italy do it, Holland do it, England do it, Germany do it. It's not a sin. We were at our best when Friend was using his chest like a suction cup, holding up the ball, and distributing balls into the attacking third.

A low tempo, high possessinon, short passing game requires top notch centre backs. We have McKenna and Hainault. Serioux was able to fill in admirably, but he doesn't really know what he's doing organizing the back line and this was fairly clear on both Honduras goals in Montreal.

Even then, DeGuzman, Hutch, Radzinski have made their name in Europe based on high fitness, high work rate, and bravery. Other than Raz, we should be asking where we these things? It's not the passing we were lacking. At least, it's not the first thing that comes to my mind.

[Obinna]

^Of course Kulkowski never played a different game against Jamacia, he played direct balls as always. The difference was that against Jamacia I felt that sometimes he tried to play it too often. That is likley a result of Jamacia closing down space, (like you said), and forcing him to play it. It became to predicable, too quickly for my liking. It also wasn't very effective. Mabye we would have won if it was. Also, for the record I rate him as our best wingback.

[Obinna]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

^A low tempo, high possessinon, short passing game requires top notch centre backs. We have McKenna and Hainault. Serioux was able to fill in admirably, but he doesn't really know what he's doing organizing the back line and this was fairly clear on both Honduras goals in Montreal.

Indeed our center backs must be top notch, and must be able to provide excellent distribution if we want success playing direct. I can't comment on McKenna, because I don't see him play enough, but Hainault's distribution from the back is mediocre at best, terriable at worst. In general, I don't know if we have any defenders that can play consistantly play a good ball from the back. Kulkowski is the best we have in this regard, but his quality of distribution should be the minimum. Germany and England have superior backs that can play this ball on a consistant basis. That is one reason they are successful playing direct. Fortunatly, we have a target man who can take down these balls as good as anyone out there, but distribution has to be better.