LinkedIn manager-speak in football, cringeworthy to some, but can it work? | OneFootball

Liam Rosenior’s glossy soundbites have been mocked, yet the real issue is whether manager-speak actually helps football teams.

NY Times notes that a Ligue 1 video from Strasbourg’s 1-1 draw with Angers showed him musing on coach versus manager and even parsing “manage” as “man age”, prompting derision online.

He has also said “the future doesn’t exist”, declared he will not “limit limitlessness”, and often repeats that “pressure is a privilege”.

This style is widespread, from Gareth Southgate’s leadership buzzwords and Emma Hayes reading Robert Frost to Eddie Howe’s “vision drives decision”, Thomas Frank’s windmills line and Brendan Rodgers’ preference for “educating” players.

The mockery is easy, particularly in Britain, but results complicate the sneers.

Rodgers nearly won the 2013-14 title with Liverpool and went unbeaten with Celtic in 2016-17, Southgate reached two European finals and a World Cup semi, and Hayes has seven WSL crowns.

At Hull, some older pros bristled while younger team-mates bought in, and Strasbourg’s youthful group, average just over 22, finished three points off the Champions League places.

Inside dressing rooms, props and slogans can focus minds, with energy and timing often trumping words, though Arteta’s lightbulb rally came before a defeat.

Rosenior remains a promising but unproven manager at Chelsea, and his fate is unlikely to hinge on boardroom buzzwords, however often they make the rest of us wince.

Source: NY Times