Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2022

81 80 Tottenham 10 days before the World Cup started, we were very specific. We didn’t go into the country initially; we went to a pre-camp because psychologically we wanted our players to feel that when they landed in France that was the World Cup starting. So, we did our pre-camp in England but even in that pre-camp, it was a conscious decision as coaches to say, we’re not going to overload them at this point. This is now maximizing performance; this is leaning into what we know we are going to tweak based on the opponent. With France, we knew we wanted to bring France inside and keep them away from their flanks, so there’s certain tweaks based on who you’re playing but ultimately it was just reinforcing what we already learned into the players, that we’d had already prepared because there’s going to be stress, there’s going to be anxiety. It’s even picking that line up for that first game that the spotlight isn’t going to melt them. In 2015, I had this player, Abby Wambach, who was a phenomenal icon that was on the back end of her career. I knew in that very first game, I needed someone that was going to be larger than life, that was going to rally and so it was more a psychological decision and a message than it was purely about her performance. Was she a hell of a player? Yes. She was FIFA player of the year. I mean she was not chopped liver; she was good, but the reality is I decided to have a psychological giant on the field in that moment at the start of a World Cup because it had been 16 years since we’d won a World Cup. There was a lot of pressure, so I think a coach needs to manage holistically the physical dimension, the psychological dimension and the tactical dimension. I decided going into the World Cup all our substitution plans would be discussed the morning of the game. I had that moment in a game, we’ve all done it as coaches, where you’re about to make a change, you bring the player up and you’re watching and you say, “Hang on a minute, hey take a seat,” and I realize that’s not fair to the player. I had meetings with my staff in the morning before a game and we had everything. I didn’t react with emotion, I reacted with “I thought this through outside of the pressure cooker.” Here’s the decisions I made. For example, you get a player hurt in the warm-up, that player’s going in. It wasn’t suddenly “Oh my God who’s going in?’’ People say were there any surprises for you in that World Cup? There wasn’t, honestly, we had every scenario planned. If you were to say to my players; we’re down a goal and we’re down a player, what is it going to look like? They would know because in that moment when it’s loud, players have to rely on the information that they have, you have to make sure that they’re prepared for that. I’m kind of nerding out right now but it was just this understanding with our players if you said to them “Hey we’re closing out a game, what’s going to be our shape with eight minutes left? We’re down a goal, where do we want the final pass to come from?’’ That was the level of detail we got with our players, they were so prepared, you can’t get information in like with American Sports, we can’t call a time out. They knew the principles and which they were going to lean on. Would you have liked the opportunity to coach in a world cup that was as compact as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 geographically? It certainly wouldn’t bother me; the next year the Women’s World Cup is in Australia and New Zealand. You’re managing the physical demands of travel so I wouldn’t be opposed to it being an easy bus ride to get to the next match at all. What effect do you think that will have on the football we see this coming November and December? I think coaches want to kind of create the bubble, you want things to be in control. I always say, you need to control the internal and manage the external. What can I control internally and take the pressure off the team? But what can I manage externally? The reality is when you’re in close proximity, fans are going to be everywhere. You’re probably going to have a hard time finding that seclusion, that moment to decompress, that moment to tune it out. I think coaches are going to have to work a little bit harder to kind of create that bubble around the team. I think that’s going to be challenging. It’s the World Cup, it’s going to be freaking amazing right! I mean there’s nothing like it so I know it’s going to be exciting and for many players it’s the highlight of their career and so I think you can’t forget that as a coach you’ve got to recognize, and enjoy this. I remember in 2015 we were winning; we won our first three games and I remember after my press conference my media guy came up to me and says “You need to smile a little bit.’’ I was so serious all the time, so I said “You’re right I’ve got to.” I’ve got to remember that everything about messaging is important, and I want my players to remember this and enjoy it. Let’s just finish up with a really easy one, who’s going to win and why? It’s going to be an extraordinarily competitiveWorld Cup. I really do feel for coaches because it is very hard with 10 days preparation to get a team ready. I hear a lot of the media say “Oh there’s no chemistry on the pitch.’’ They’ve been together for five days! And really when you’re together, you’re not training all the time, so I think that’s hard. I don’t think you want to win a World Championship without depth, you have to manage the suspensions, you have to manage the injuries so I think a team with great depth will end up lifting that trophy. I’m hedging my bets here but there’s some great teams. I think Brazil, France, all these teams are going to be in the hunt. It’s going to be exceptional and the home team, they’re going to be driven by the support of the home fans. It’s so special, it’s such an amazing feeling.