Posted by

Aaron Nielsen ,

November 8, 2013 Email

Aaron Nielsen



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@ENBSports

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With all three Canadian MLS teams finishing off disappointing 2013 seasons, albeit in different ways, questions about coaching has been a topic of debate at all three clubs. It brings up an interesting question in terms of how much impact the manager has on the success of the soccer club and if a club, instead of paying money for a high priced designated player, used the money to hire a manager from the highest level of the game, would it be better value for money? This idea would go against my general view of MLS knowing the most successful managers like Bruce Arena and Sigi Schmid have deep roots in American Soccer, including coaching at the college level. I also wrote in my last college article the potential of the college coach in MLS and named five worthy individuals who I feel could be successful in the league. Most recently, as part of my ongoing work with global soccer and statistics, I was tabulating the final 2013 statistics for the Chinese Super League. This league could be seen as an even more extreme example of MLS, where the clubs have attendances of 30,000 a game, large sums of money to spend but the result has been a much weaker local domestic product and player development system that arguably has the current China National Team in a worse off position in terms of talent than the Canadian National team. Like Canada, despite the addition of a viable league, the Chinese National team failed to make it out of the 2nd Group of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup and the current National team only has one player currently playing at a high level of competition. Chen Zhizhao, who is playing with Corinthians in Brazil, and this is despite the China Super League existing for over ten years employing over 800 Chines-born players. The Chinese Super League doesn't have a salary cap (MLS and Australia A-League are only leagues who do) and instead the league plays by traditional FIFA rules and restricts each club to just four internationals. Despite the lack of internationals, 18% compared to MLS 48%, the Chinese Super League has spent more freely than the MLS in recruiting players and paying transfers fees. They also seem to have larger network in terms of scouting and bringing players in from around the World. A few known names who play in the Chinese Super League include Fredy Kanouté, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Seydou Keita, Fábio Rochemback, Darío Conca, as well upcoming South American prospects who are worth millions of dollars in the transfer market, including Elkeson and Giovanni Moreno. Moreno plays for Shanghai Shenhua, who last season became known for having Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, and then paying another $10 Million for Moreno's services, although by seasons end in 2012, the club only finished 9th. Many teams in the Chinese Super League have a strong handle on foreign imports, and club budgets are much higher than MLS. However, a stars name or performance doesn't seem to effect the position of the teams as one might predict, even though the domestic players seem evenly spread out from club to club. Interestingly enough, over the past couple seasons one team has dominated: Guangzhou Evergrande. This season Guangzhou are also playing in the AFC Champions League finals, beating high profile and much better known Asian clubs from Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia in the process. The most probabable reason for their success has been the coach, Marcello Lippi. The former Juventus and Italian World Cup winning coach, Lippi joined the South China club in May of last season and since then he has a record 46 wins, 13 draws and five losses. MLS, especially during its early history, did sign known managers such as Brazilian's Carlos Parreira and Ivo Wortmann, as well as Carlos Queiroz and most recently the failed experiment of “Sexy Football” with the LA Galaxy hiring of Ruud Gullit, and even the PG version of Aaron Winter in Toronto. The issues were noticeable in terms of not understanding the talent, expecting too much, and like every DP criticism - just here for the money. The league and teams were also to blame for not giving the manager free reign and not allowing the manager to create a culture, and instead in many cases were in conflict with other members of management at the club. Furthermore, these managers at the time were not "DP" quality and didn't have the track record of a Marcello Lippi, who is a manager who expects to win and throughout his career has only done that. The reality is that in many ways the modern manager has overshadowed the player in terms of success and the beautiful game. In the history of MLS no teams has come close in matching Alex Ferguson's example of long term success or Jose Mourinho's incredible streaks of multiple seasons not losing at home. Outside of England, managers such as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are as known and as famous as the players they manage. What the current world of soccer has shown us, is that with unlimited resources players come and go but it's the managers who create the identity for the club. This is also true in MLS where the most consistent clubs have been managed by the most high profile managers Bruce Arena, Sigi Schmid or Dominic Kinnear, while up and coming teams such as Real Salt Lake and Portland are more known for their managers than their players. So if I was the Vancouver Whitecaps I would explore bringing in a Guus Hiddink, Ottmar Hitzfeld, or if he needs to be English a Bob Bradley, Ian Holloway or Tony Pulis, or who knows perhaps Marcello Lippi might be looking for a new challenge and I would much rather see him demonstrate his skills in MLS than the large list of designated players currently being considered. The reality is, an individual players performance is not accountable for the success of a team on the field. That is the role of club development and most importantly in the sport of soccer, the manager. In a league and a country that is still learning the game, trying to develop players, understand tactics and how to win on the big stage, I feel a manager who has succeeded at the highest level of the game might be the best value for the clubs players, fans and winning as well. Aaron Nielsen has worked within the soccer/sports industry for over 15 years. His statistical analysis brings the beautiful game in a whole new light. The detailed player data and prospect lists he produces are used by many scouts, agents, and football insiders around the world.You can find updating stats regularly at ENBSports.

