# What Should We Expect from Head Coaches? *We argue that a head coach's decision to adopt an attacking style, despite their team's inability to effectively compete using such tactics, might reflect poorly on their talent ID.* > For the full version with images, embedded tweets, and visual breakdowns, [visit BallerzBantz](https://www.ballerzbantz.com/p/head-coach-expectations). *Talent Identification (Talent ID) — For this essay, I define Talent ID not merely as spotting capable players but as understanding which environment maximizes their abilities.* --- ## The Matter Last week, football consultancy MRKT Insights released an article outlining how significant a coach's (purported) style was to elite coach recruitment. In the piece, Tim Keech explains that the strong similarities in how top clubs interpret and play football means they typically target the same subset of elite coaches — those whose style tends towards attacking football: > "They control possession, they are used to breaking down deep defences, they tend to play a high defensive line and look to regain the ball high up the pitch. They also have technically proficient players with good athleticism." Coaches who set their teams up to play attacking football, but struggle to compete are still looked at favorably when prospecting roles at the bigger clubs. This renders Roberto de Zerbi atop most managerial shortlists despite his sub-par season with Brighton, and the same kind that has earned Vincent Kompany a move to Bayern after his relegation with Burnley. ## My Take I argue that for a coach (and their team) to sufficiently demonstrate *attacking intent*, the composition of player profiles in the squad is more important than the quality of the players themselves. A semblance of attacking football could be engineered with aligned, albeit less skilled, profiles. First, you need a group of players whose innate tendencies facilitate attacking football. Conversely, it's more challenging to showcase this attacking intent with a center-back whose first instinct is to clear the ball, a traditional save-and-hoof goalkeeper, or midfielders who are exclusively ball-winners. ### Analogy Imagine you have a hearty stew and two options: a toy-sized fork and knife set or a large, adult-sized spoon. The tiny fork and knife represent the aligned, but worse players attempting to play attacking football. The large spoon represents the more pragmatic approach with better players. This leads me to be generally skeptical about the talent ID of coaches who deliberately choose to implement attacking football at clubs without the squad muscle to compete: 1. **Compromising Quality for Fit:** It suggests that these coaches might have overlooked potentially better players in favor of those who fit their system but are objectively of a lower standard. 2. **Risk of Repetition:** There's a tendency for such coaches to replicate this strategy at more prominent clubs — leading to underutilization of possible talent. > "[the best] teams play **good football** with [the best] players." *(Visit the full article for the complete version with additional arguments.)* --- ## Related - [[Synergies]] - [[Anti-Strategy]] - [[Focusing on Strengths]] - [[BB-wiki-1/Sports/Projections/Solanke and Postecoglou]]