\n<\/p>\n
To what extent does a manager\u2019s body language affect the players?<\/p>\n
Everyone in football regularly pretends to be a body language expert, able to discern when players are afraid of the ball, identifying slumped shoulders and a sort of metaphysical air of defeat. Or maybe they\u2019ve \u2018puffed their chests out, which everyone knows is a sign of confidence. Have you ever done it when you feel confident? I imagine it\u2019d look a bit odd.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d probably be right to call bullsh*t on such comments as nothing more than assumptions and guesses passed off as some sort of pseudo psychology.<\/p>\n
But regardless of whether you can tell anything about a player from what they\u2019re doing with a specific bit of their body, it\u2019s impossible to believe that how the manager behaves doesn\u2019t have some effect. It\u2019s human nature to recognise and respond to their reactions.<\/p>\n
I always thought Sven\u2019s rather urbane pitch-side manner that featured no eyeball-bleeding yelling was rather good and suggested a calmness, often in contrast to the headless chickens on the pitch. Of course he was pilloried in the press for not showing emotion by a sulphurous group of cretins with neanderthal attitudes to everything.<\/p>\n
When managers do that \u2018more energy\u2019 mime, does it do any good? It seems unlikely, but for a while it was Glenn Hoddle\u2019s only managerial tool. When you see Mikel Arteta on the verge of a nervous breakdown, hyperactively gesturing and holding his head in his hands, this extremely nervous display must affect the team who in turn become more nervous. If he<\/em> looks like he doesn\u2019t know what to do, can you expect the team to feel in control?<\/p>\n MAILBOX: Arsenal fan boos show \u2018peak entitlement\u2019 at \u2018squeaky glum time\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n And when Igor Tudor stood in the technical area glowering like an ogre who\u2019s thinking \u2018are these people stupid?\u2019, about to explode in anger, I\u2019m sure it didn\u2019t help imbue confidence.<\/p>\n By and large \u2013 though there are Antonio Conte-sized exceptions \u2013 the best managers keep their emotions in check. If it looks like the manager is nervously pacing around with a look of thunder, it must affect you. Michael Carrick, for example, stands usually quite dispassionately, in contrast to Ruben Amorim who looked somewhere between sick, frustrated and depressed.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Everton seem to respond well to David Moyes\u2019 \u2018peering into the bowels of hell\u2019 look, when he seems like a man whose bus has just driven right past the stop. The likes of Pep Guardiola or Alex Ferguson before him were probably so trusted because of their stellar record that however they behave is seen as somehow appropriate; even Pep prancing in his granddad trousers don\u2019t seem to affect them.<\/p>\n Some in the press seem to take offence at managers writing notes mid-match in a spasm of anti-intellect, believing they should be shouting not writing. But then sometimes it does seem a little self-involved, reactive rather than proactive, perhaps especially with Liam Rosenior, who looks more like he\u2019s a student writing notes for a presentation at the next class and as such lacks credibility. It looks impotent and over-studious in the wrong hands, intelligent and thoughtful in the right ones.<\/p>\n Some managers just have a natural air of authority. Hearts manager Derek McInnes is someone who just looks in charge even with his gangster\u2019s tan. You wouldn\u2019t want to go against him, whereas you\u2019d take Rosenior for avocado on toast.<\/p>\n The manager who loses his temper and spends the match raging at everyone, thinking up ever-more-elaborate insults to hurl at people like Neil Warnock seems to sometimes inspire the team to greater heights. After all, something must have persuaded all those teams he managed to promotion.<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s all down to authenticity and if you believe the manager is in control in some sense. Warnock must have, while Arteta clearly does not; I have never seen a face that has \u2018it\u2019s all going wrong\u2019 tattooed onto it before but it\u2019s written all over his, even when it isn\u2019t but especially when it is. But then Unai Emery is similarly on edge the whole game but doesn\u2019t seem to have the same level of negative energy.<\/p>\n The usually calm manager who explodes at some decision or tackle has the benefit of using unusually vocalised emotion so players know he\u2019s serious, whereas the manager in a constant \u2018cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof\u2019 state can\u2019t play that card.<\/p>\n Alternatively, none of it matters and players take no notice whatsoever. It certainly sometimes seems like managers are superfluous to requirements and much of it is just performative.<\/p>\n Some managers don\u2019t project anything, some are stars who are the focus of attention; it all depends on the type you want. Some like to see the manager kick every ball, scream and shout, some would prefer someone more low key whose head isn\u2019t on fire. Others just like a raised eyebrow to express his feelings. Who knows which is best?<\/p>\n <\/div>\n