First I want to underline that I'm absolutely baffled and amazed by the amount of attention the bitter dutchman receives. His merits are few and he does not seem to get a lot of support from others in the football community. He is a bit of a lone wolf, slagging of everyone who does not operate in accordance with his principles and beliefs, which in the Premier League, arguably the best league system in the world, apparently consist of 95 % of the managers. Some worse than others, but no one worse than our very own David Moyes.
In my opinion it seems like a bit of a hopeless debate. The question and challenge are to find the perfect balance between the intensity and amount of training and rest. Raymond Verheijen claims he has the answer, and is arguing that David Moyes pushes his players too fare, making them too exhausted to maximize their performance when it matters - in games. He even claims that Moyes’ system makes players more injury prone.
David Moyes is probably aware of the concerns and possible side-effects, but feel that the amount of training is necessary maximize the players potential. In other words, the pros outweigh the cons. Being better trained than the opponent is more important in the long run, than having a bigger surplus and that the injuries that follows is just a necessary evil.
The golden boy of Raymond Verheijen
This might even explain the stagnation of the team recently led by the last five percent mentioned in the first paragraph, Roberto Martinez. Under the guidance of Steve Bruce Wigan looked like a team who was starting to establish themselves just below the middle. When Roberto Martinez came to Wigan, they had just finished 11th with 45 points. In Roberto Martinez first season they played entertaining football, but got 36 points and finished 16th. In the years to come they were never able to establish themselves and were always fighting for survival, despite playing good football. In his last season they were relegated, but won the FAcup impressively.
Is it possible that the slow decline of Wigan, eventually causing their relegation, were a result of his players slowly stagnating physically? My impression is that Verheijen is right on one point, though: Roberto Martinez’ team experiences fewer injuries than other teams in the Premier League (this is based on a brief look at physioroom.com).
This year Roberto Martinez is in charge of Everton. A team formerly led by David Moyes, a manager with a totally different approach. Bizarrely, Everton doing well, a team literally built by David Moyes with some small adjustments from Martinez, have led to critic against David Moyes. Instead of getting a part of the cred for his former team performance, media and pundits use it against him, claiming it proves that his results were unimpressive and maybe even below what one could expect when you see the results of Everton today.
Everton will not become in poorer shape physically overnight if Martinez trains them lighter. Instead, they might benefit. Especially in the short run, gaining surplus from less training, and less hard training, than under Moyes. They have arguably had fewer injuries this season, and the players look sharp. In addition, Martinez is lucky to be able to build on the defensive structure that David Moyes gave Everton.
Exactly one year ago several people argued that Liverpool should have gone for Michael Laudrup instead of Rogers. It might be easy for a new manager to highlight a couple of flaws, and thereby improve something that works quite well in the short run. My point is really quite simple; one should not draw a conclusion halfway through their first season.
Pre-season
That being said I am afraid that Raymond Verheijen makes a valid point on another part too. Verheijen claims that David Moyes pre-seasons are too hard, and damages the beginning of the campaign. I’ve looked at the numbers from 2003 to 2013, and David Moyes averages a lot fewer points in the beginning of each season. From 2003/2004 to 2012/2013 he averaged 1,325 point per game in the first eight games of the season, against a season average of 1,5. In the last nineteen games he averaged 1,579 points (in the nineteen first he averaged 1,421 points). If we look at a later period, from 2006/2007, this also gives a more weighted average, excluding the highs and lows in the population, the pattern becomes even stronger:
Everton got an average of 1,411 points per match in their first eight games and 1,729 in their nineteen last matches. That a twenty percent difference. As an illustration, over a season, a 1,411 average give you 54 points, while 1,729 points give you 66 points.
And again, this is a question of give and take. It is possible that the though pre-season is one of the reasons that his team perform so well from January to June, but have David Moyes found the perfect balance? I doubt it.
In Manchester United three points can be the difference between finishing first and second, and I think it might turn out crucial that he either adjust his methods slightly or find a way of using our fantastic squad depth better (giving a part of the squad a lighter program, making them more ready). Our depth might be a solution he did not have at Everton. Ferguson often used key players, for instance Carrick, less in the first half of the season. My impression is that, especially toward the end of his reign, the most important players in the first half of the season were less visible in the second half.
Merry Christmas, and let’s hope that the pattern of the statistics turn out even stronger this season!
In my opinion it seems like a bit of a hopeless debate. The question and challenge are to find the perfect balance between the intensity and amount of training and rest. Raymond Verheijen claims he has the answer, and is arguing that David Moyes pushes his players too fare, making them too exhausted to maximize their performance when it matters - in games. He even claims that Moyes’ system makes players more injury prone.
David Moyes is probably aware of the concerns and possible side-effects, but feel that the amount of training is necessary maximize the players potential. In other words, the pros outweigh the cons. Being better trained than the opponent is more important in the long run, than having a bigger surplus and that the injuries that follows is just a necessary evil.
The golden boy of Raymond Verheijen
This might even explain the stagnation of the team recently led by the last five percent mentioned in the first paragraph, Roberto Martinez. Under the guidance of Steve Bruce Wigan looked like a team who was starting to establish themselves just below the middle. When Roberto Martinez came to Wigan, they had just finished 11th with 45 points. In Roberto Martinez first season they played entertaining football, but got 36 points and finished 16th. In the years to come they were never able to establish themselves and were always fighting for survival, despite playing good football. In his last season they were relegated, but won the FAcup impressively.
Is it possible that the slow decline of Wigan, eventually causing their relegation, were a result of his players slowly stagnating physically? My impression is that Verheijen is right on one point, though: Roberto Martinez’ team experiences fewer injuries than other teams in the Premier League (this is based on a brief look at physioroom.com).
This year Roberto Martinez is in charge of Everton. A team formerly led by David Moyes, a manager with a totally different approach. Bizarrely, Everton doing well, a team literally built by David Moyes with some small adjustments from Martinez, have led to critic against David Moyes. Instead of getting a part of the cred for his former team performance, media and pundits use it against him, claiming it proves that his results were unimpressive and maybe even below what one could expect when you see the results of Everton today.
Everton will not become in poorer shape physically overnight if Martinez trains them lighter. Instead, they might benefit. Especially in the short run, gaining surplus from less training, and less hard training, than under Moyes. They have arguably had fewer injuries this season, and the players look sharp. In addition, Martinez is lucky to be able to build on the defensive structure that David Moyes gave Everton.
Exactly one year ago several people argued that Liverpool should have gone for Michael Laudrup instead of Rogers. It might be easy for a new manager to highlight a couple of flaws, and thereby improve something that works quite well in the short run. My point is really quite simple; one should not draw a conclusion halfway through their first season.
Pre-season
That being said I am afraid that Raymond Verheijen makes a valid point on another part too. Verheijen claims that David Moyes pre-seasons are too hard, and damages the beginning of the campaign. I’ve looked at the numbers from 2003 to 2013, and David Moyes averages a lot fewer points in the beginning of each season. From 2003/2004 to 2012/2013 he averaged 1,325 point per game in the first eight games of the season, against a season average of 1,5. In the last nineteen games he averaged 1,579 points (in the nineteen first he averaged 1,421 points). If we look at a later period, from 2006/2007, this also gives a more weighted average, excluding the highs and lows in the population, the pattern becomes even stronger:
Everton got an average of 1,411 points per match in their first eight games and 1,729 in their nineteen last matches. That a twenty percent difference. As an illustration, over a season, a 1,411 average give you 54 points, while 1,729 points give you 66 points.
And again, this is a question of give and take. It is possible that the though pre-season is one of the reasons that his team perform so well from January to June, but have David Moyes found the perfect balance? I doubt it.
In Manchester United three points can be the difference between finishing first and second, and I think it might turn out crucial that he either adjust his methods slightly or find a way of using our fantastic squad depth better (giving a part of the squad a lighter program, making them more ready). Our depth might be a solution he did not have at Everton. Ferguson often used key players, for instance Carrick, less in the first half of the season. My impression is that, especially toward the end of his reign, the most important players in the first half of the season were less visible in the second half.
Merry Christmas, and let’s hope that the pattern of the statistics turn out even stronger this season!