Just like the Italian poet Niccolò Machiavelli once stated, “the ends justify the means”, a classic quote that sums up the importance of winning at all costs, no matter which ways you choose to accomplish it. Bringing this concept into football´s reality, I guess such statement still makes sense today since the game´s competitiveness is so high that is basically impossible to have a different mindset than playing for results.
Winning is great in any sport because it not only takes you or your team one more step up on the success’ ladder but it also boosts the confidence for future challenges.
And what about the performance?
We can define it as the process behind the plan you set to a game, in other words, it is how well you develop your strategy.
But why caring so much about performance when the outcomes are in our favor?
Results are just one area, from many others, that will serve us as a guide for future planning, probably the main one, but not the only treasure. It can actually be deceiving sometimes since when paying too much attention just on the results we coaches tend to be more relaxed and less concerned of how well our strategies were developed, therefore, leaving out precious opportunities for future improvements.
That is exactly when coaches make most mistakes. They misinterpret performance with playing the so-called “beautiful game” when that is not true. In fact, it is all about being EFFECTIVE, tactically, technically, physically and psychologically.
Since results can come from many unpredictable ways, a wise coach should always balance its weight with his team’s efficiency presented during the matches. Doing so, the likelihood of making better adjustments for future matches will be way more accurate.
For these reasons, great coaches should have a broader outlook as well as a deeper diagnostic feeling into the game, despite the outcomes. As a consequence, they get prevented from blinding themselves and avoid being in a trap later on.
After all, it is better to fix “little issues” before they become big problems.
A warned coach worth two!
Have good sessions!
