04-04-2016, 11:54 PM
I think it's about time that we as a team start signing guys who have good leadership qualities and stop bringing in knuckle heads who has some talent.
If the last few seasons have taught me anything, it's that this team, for all the things we talk about missing, is completely devoid of strong leaders within its playing staff. Sure, most of the players on this team wouldn't have cracked the Milan of old but we still have a fair amount of talent on the roster. And yet, time and time again, we get beaten by teams who have far fewer talent than we do (Atlanta this past weekend a prime example of this). And all of this, to me, had to do with the fact that we have absolutely zero leadership in the locker room. Nobody outside the coaching staff would speak up and call out players for slacking off, failing their assignments or being careless when playing. Having the right mix of characters in the locker room is paramount in building a winning team mentality and chemistry. Teams with good chemistry often over achieve despite having no talent, while teams with bad chemistry always under achieve given their talent level. When we had strong leaders like we did back in the CL days, we were often the team that could turn clay into gold. Nowadays, we are a graveyard for even world class players.
Players like Ben Arfa, Balotelli, Zapata and Menez need to be kept away from a team like ours right now. Instead, we need to look for guys who have strong leadership skills to completely change the culture of the locker room. We need guys who can make sure everyone pays attention during tape study, trains their best during sessions and stay on high alert during matches.
The Milanello environment is like a resort for the players these days and have caused massive problems for coaches because they can't keep track of everyone's whereabouts 24/7 with a squad this large. Until we can fix the culture of the team with a new set of players, no talent in the world can save us from being mediocre every year. Situations where players would basically quit on games because they don't think the manager will be here long enough cannot happen again.
If the last few seasons have taught me anything, it's that this team, for all the things we talk about missing, is completely devoid of strong leaders within its playing staff. Sure, most of the players on this team wouldn't have cracked the Milan of old but we still have a fair amount of talent on the roster. And yet, time and time again, we get beaten by teams who have far fewer talent than we do (Atlanta this past weekend a prime example of this). And all of this, to me, had to do with the fact that we have absolutely zero leadership in the locker room. Nobody outside the coaching staff would speak up and call out players for slacking off, failing their assignments or being careless when playing. Having the right mix of characters in the locker room is paramount in building a winning team mentality and chemistry. Teams with good chemistry often over achieve despite having no talent, while teams with bad chemistry always under achieve given their talent level. When we had strong leaders like we did back in the CL days, we were often the team that could turn clay into gold. Nowadays, we are a graveyard for even world class players.
Players like Ben Arfa, Balotelli, Zapata and Menez need to be kept away from a team like ours right now. Instead, we need to look for guys who have strong leadership skills to completely change the culture of the locker room. We need guys who can make sure everyone pays attention during tape study, trains their best during sessions and stay on high alert during matches.
The Milanello environment is like a resort for the players these days and have caused massive problems for coaches because they can't keep track of everyone's whereabouts 24/7 with a squad this large. Until we can fix the culture of the team with a new set of players, no talent in the world can save us from being mediocre every year. Situations where players would basically quit on games because they don't think the manager will be here long enough cannot happen again.