by Adrian Cheong

Created on: May 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 01, 2009

It is often moaned by coaches of all sports at every level that "if you don't have the players, you can't work miracles." In soccer management, miracles are never truly expected, but instead a manager is expected to harness the potential of his team to win soccer matches. Therefore moronic soundbites like that are only ever used by managers who have, quite basically, failed at doing their jobs right.

What is a soccer manager's job anyway? Not very different from that of a manager of your local McDonalds; he or she is the chief organizer and motivator of his "team". He dishes warnings for those who step out of line or slack off, he showers encouragement onto a team member of low morale. More importantly, he sets out HIS game plan and gets his players to stick to it, very often with the promise that this will in turn lead them to glory at the end of the season.

Poor performances can happen to a world famous soccer player like David Beckham or Cristiano Ronaldo or to a Sunday league amateur like myself and really, some days it just seems that no matter how much you have trained before or how hard you try to make an impact in the match, nothing ever comes off the way it is supposed to.

This is when a manager really earns his keep. On the touchline, he should sense that his team is under-performing, and therefore, it is upon him to make the necessary changes tactically and/or to substitute players. His mind tinkers with different possible solutions to try to turn the tide of the match back into his favour. The point is, a player who messes up could be hauled off the pitch and be immediately replaced by a fresher member of the squad.

What happens then if the manager messes up?

As comparison, we shall look at classic examples of high level soccer managers who have succeeded with a squad of players of limited abilities, as well as managers who despite the wealth of talented footballers at their disposal, have spectacularly failed to deliver results. Otto Rehhagel took the unfancied Greek national team to the pinnacle of European football when they powered to victory at the 2004 European Championships. Given a 100-1odds of winning prior to the tournament, the Greeks stunned the soccer world as their rock solid organization, fitness, and indomitable team spirit trumped more fashionable and silky teams such as the Czech Republic and pre-tournament favourites Portugal.

Mr Rehhagel was applauded by all; he knew his squad was limited in abilities at best, and devised

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