re: 8/29 Matchday Thread

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The club always comes before yourself.

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And to go along with that, I think AVB put his system ahead of the club.

I'm not opposed to players complaining when something isn't going right. I don't expect players to accept mediocrity, grit their teeth and do what the manager says just because he said it. There is a big difference between refusing to play for the club and being upset because of the manager. Say what you want about John Terry, but on the pitch he gives 100% for his club. He's a shitbag, but he is loyal to Chelsea.

I always think back to one of my favorite stories from Rafa. It goes:

Liverpool was in training the day before a big match. In that training session, Rafa told the players to perform an exercise where they were supposed to sprint 1 km. Of course all of the players obliged. After a certain distance Rafa called them back and said: "Why would ya'll do this just because I said so"? "Why didn't any of you object and say 'this doesn't make any sense, why are we doing this'?" (it's a lot better to hear in his Spanish accent)

His point was that while it is good to respect your manager, it is more important to think. Don't do something that is obviously a bad idea just because the manager said to. He went on to say that blind respect for managers in England was one of the problems with the game.

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Wasn't the point of the hire to set a basis for the future? To install a new system that would take Chelsea to the cutting edge of contemporary football tactics?

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And at what point is that abandoned? Is the fact that they went on to win an FA Cup, CL and are now top of the table evidence enough that the players were right to some extent? Once again, as nice as it is to think that AVB should have been given time, hindsight shows us that Roman made the right decision.

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With that type of mentality players can just do what they want because they don't agree with it.

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Not what he's saying at all. I guess you have to read his book to really understand what he was getting at. Like Bho said, this isn't U8 where the manager is infallible. That was Rafa's point. Think.

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Is the fact that they went on to win an FA Cup, CL and are now top of the table evidence enough that the players were right to some extent?

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It doesn't matter if the players are right. The players don't run the club. The manager and the front office does. Their job is to implement what the club is trying to do, not what they want to do themselves.

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hindsight shows us that Roman made the right decision.

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Roman did make the right decision. The players did not. It's the front office's job to decide if the manager works or not, not the players. Mutiny is rarely justified in any profession.

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Like Bho said, this isn't U8 where the manager is infallible. That was Rafa's point.

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I agree, I just think it isn't the players job to take action into their own hands. They should back the decisions of the front office, whether they agree with it or not, until the front office makes a change.

See my above post. We'll have to agree to disagree with this one. I don't expect players to run the club, but I do think the veterans are well within their rights to object to management if need be. Terry and Co. have been through, what, 5 managers now? I think their opinion does hold a bit of weight, even if it may come across the wrong way.

Also, since we're on the topic, did any of them actually come out and criticize AVB publicly? Or are we just assuming they refused to play for him? Genuine question, I don't remember. If they did come out and say something, I am 100% against that. These types of things need to be kept in-house.

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They should back the decisions of the front office, whether they agree with it or not, until the front office makes a change.

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See, I just don't buy that. Different mindsets I guess.

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unless they came out publicly with their thoughts

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Which is what my argument hinges on. If they did it within the confines of the club, and somebody on the inside leaked it publicly then I have no problem with it, and actually applaud them for standing up to the manager.

If they didn't do it publicly, well frick me then. I'm way off base if that was the case, and would disagree with my previous points myself.

Bho?

I don't believe that anyone went on the record publicly about disrespecting AVB, but lots of reports said he lost the locker room well before he was fired. A Chelsea beat writer I follow on twitter is very in touch with the club and although he won't bash AVB, he strongly hints to his refusal to adjust to the environment split the locker room. Another rumor was he heavily favored his Portuguese speaking players and would often speak in this language in training and they all would laugh at the others. John and Frank didn't appreciate that at all. From all accounts from inside and out, AVB was a shite show at Chelsea and gave Roman no choice but to sack him. I wouldn't be surprised if RDM had something to do with it as well. That's just my speculation though.

Yeah the Bobby Knight days of coaching are over. You have to get players to like you no matter the level or the sport now. Players like you, they play hard for you. Also as young as AVB is, he can't walk into John Terry's locker room and go all Hitler on them. Terry, Frank and Cole have all earned their respect on the field and would probably want their manager to do the same. I wish all players would blindly follow their managers but to think that they do, in this day and age, is very closed minded.

Yeah, that's just not a smart move. The ref will likely always give a card for that. I remember in the USOC final when Montero headbutted the ball out of DC United's keeper's hand and was given a yellow card.

I don't know what the rules say either but I think that will probably get carded every time.