The recent analysis of both the men’s Ashes disaster and a misfiring Manchester United squad have had one major shared opinion – their environments have been too soft and cosy for the players.
It’s been said that player power has been out of control and that players need ‘toughening up’.
Let’s not kid ourselves, this line of analysis is a well-used one; and I would add that I often think it is a lazy one to go with.
People who are searching for reasons as to why performances are poor can easily point to a ‘soft’ changing room without really having any idea of what the dynamics are within a squad of players and coaches.
For starters, in this context, ‘player power’ is a seen as a negative; but was it seen that way when Bryan Robson, Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand ran the dressing room at Manchester United? Of course not.
Is the Manchester United squad lacking leadership? Have your say in the comments!
The truth is that there is a fine line between empowering players and holding a firm stance with them; and it’s a position that is always moving.
Take Roy Keane – Sir Alex Ferguson was very happy to empower him to the maximum but then reached a point when he may well have thought it had gone too far and got him out of the club.
What I can tell you is that if you want to a poor reaction from players then treat them like children. You might get a short-term rise in work rate, but it will soon foster resentment and anger within the squad and backfire. As Brendan Rodgers once said ‘You train dogs not people’.
What I do believe though is that successful teams need an ‘edge’ in that dressing room. That edge is an under-the-radar tension amongst the players that they need to continually prove themselves to each other.
It isn’t about friendship, in fact often the best performing teams will have players who genuinely don’t like each other on a personal level.
That was the case within my Great Britain squad at the Olympics. That desire to prove themselves to the rest of the team comes from a mutual respect and an understanding amongst you that only the highest of standards will do. You might not like certain players nor them you, but you will want them all to respect you.
When this sort of edge exists in a dressing room then it will be led by the leaders amongst the squad. They will not allow standards to drop and there will be a self-regulation amongst the players that sits outside of a manager or head coach.
The key to this is obviously that you must find strong leaders amongst the group because without them then this dynamic can’t work.
So, instead of bemoaning player power or what you consider to be ‘soft’ environments, look for how many true leaders sit in that squad.
If they are not there, then the answer is to find personalities who can do that and bring them into the team as soon as possible.
