Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Team Management | Tags: deschamps, jorge campos mexico, Juventus, man utd, Newcastle United, worst ever kits
Who is in charge of choosing the kits for your team? Hopefully it isn’t the one that chose the Newcastle United Away kit for next season – 2009/10.
I feel it is very important for young players to want to wear the kit they play in, much the same as they would want to wear the kit of the team they support. It is all part of taking pride in your team. Look good, play good.
It is also something that gives a team the initial advantage when you get to a match. Much like doing some good warm-ups the opposition will look across and weigh your team up. How come they have a full Nike kit? Wow they look like Brazil!
Kits are a massive boost to the revenues of professional teams. The launch of new kits is now a huge event. The latest England kit has matching jackets, all part of the image of the team.
Here’s my top five worst kits
1. Newcastle Utd Away shirt (2009) Oh dear relegated from the Premiership the final insult for Steven Taylor – has he looked in the mirror yet?
2.Man Utd Grey shirt (1996)
Worn only once, Sir Alex Ferguson demanded his players change into a new kit at half-time against Southampton as they “couldn’t see” each other on the park and this was why they found themselves 3-0 down at the interval. Worst excuse as well.
3. Athletic Bilbao home shirt (2004)
Basque side Athletico Bilbao are one of the few clubs who do not have the logo of an official sponsor emblazoned on their kit. Now I wonder why…
4. Juventus (1997) In an attempt to hark back to its very first strip in 1899 Juventus decided it would be a great idea to ditch their iconic black and white strip and make their stars prance around in this delightful pink one. They quickly changed back.
5. Mexico Jorge Campos Goalkeeper shirt (USA World Cup 1994). Eccentic in goal, eccentic in kit.
Filed under: Dave Clarke, Soccer Coaching, Soccer Team Management | Tags: David Beckham, England U21, England v Portugal, james milner, joe hart, John Terry penalty miss, penalty shoot-out, penalty slip, soccer slip ups, Sweden U21
Missing penalties because the player slips always bring a huge cheer from the opposition. Whenever my teams play I always tell them we don’t cheer missed penalties when the player slips or misses the goal.
Yes, we cheer a good save from the penalty kick, but not the miss itself.
I’ve seen a lot of missed penalties this season – the pressure on the players taking the penalty is huge and is something that the player involved will think about for a long time afterwards.
If your player misses, have a quick chat with them and tell them it doesn’t matter. Don’t show your disappointment and don’t let the rest of the team see your disappointment. Hopefully your team’s spirit will help the player get over it.
You must get over it quickly too.
In the U21 European Championships last month the England U21 team beat Sweden on penalties – surely one of the biggest pressure points in a football match – James Milner took England’s first penalty and slipped kicking the ball high and wide of the goal.
He must have felt terrible listening to the jeering crowd, but by the end the English spirit shone through and even though Joe Hart the England goalkeeper would miss the final the team celebrated as one.
Consider also David Beckham’s slip for England against Portugal in the European Championships in 2004. His mistake led to the team losing in the quarter-finals of Europe’s biggest International tournament.
John Terry missed for Chelsea when he slipped against Manchester United in Europe’s biggest club tournament in the final of the Champions League in 2008. He only had to score the penalty for Chelsea to win, he missed. Chelsea went on to lose.
It happens to the best players in the world so expect it to happen to your players, and be there for them when it does.
Here are the clips of the two slip ups for England and John Terry’s miss for Chelsea.
