I wish Roberto Mancini would stop talking about how tired his players are – they might start believing him!
I can’t believe football has changed that much from my day 30 years ago, and we always preferred playing three times a week to training five times a week.
A lot of clubs got through a season with little more than 15 in their squad, and a successful club like Liverpool played league games, two domestic cups – when they were seen as priorities – and European games, as well as all being internationals.
They didn’t seem to let the quality fall too far, as they won trophy after trophy. It is like many walks of life now – where we have experts telling us that what we have been doing is bad for us.
I’m not saying the sports scientists have got it wrong when they tell us a footballer needs 72 hours to get over the effects of a match. But I do think players are easily persuaded not to play these days.
It used to be the case that you would play with an injury or an illness, but now you have physios or medical staff telling players they can’t risk anything.
We are lucky at City to be pursuing success on three fronts, but it is something United, Arsenal and Chelsea have been doing for years – and you always see the same players turning out when the chips are down and the crucial games are being played.
Roberto said again at the weekend how tired the players were, and David Silva said something similar in the M.E.N.
If you start talking about feeling tired, you actually do feel tired. A player’s peak performance is nothing to do with physical ability, and everything to do with what goes on between his ears.
City need to turn it round, and concentrate on the fact that we suddenly have a sniff of the league title again, albeit a faint one, and that we are in the FA Cup quarter-finals and one tie away from the same stage of the Europa League.
Rather than feeling tired, they should be scrambling over each other to try to get a place in the team.
Tiredness can wait until the summer – fatigue never seems quite as bad when you are on the sun lounger with a nice shiny medal around your neck.
What do you think? Have your say.
Gary Owen column
March 08, 2011
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spot on as always gary
Perhaps we should have a media blackout!!!!
Well said! PMA! POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE!!!!!
Couldn't agree more!!! Top top article. Being saying similar for weeks since Roberto started this tiredness thing. Half of it is in the mind. Liverpool have played a similar amount of games to us bar a couple of FA Cup ties here or there and they didn't look too knackered when they dismantled United the other day!
This is an excellent piece by Gary and reflects entirely what I have been thinking for the past few weeks. What is more, opponents are going to believe that so long as they work hard City will wilt because of this alleged tiredness. (I suspect that Roberto is preparing ammunition for a fight to have the league programme reduced.) How many people spend all their time telling us they are tired? Sometimes they are people who don't seem to do anything very much.
Gary can you have a word with Mancini,please tell him to man up.back in the day we played on frozen pitches and pitches with no grass.how tired would they be if they played on them pitches
Gary, if you mean that in your day, by the time March came around, the absolutely knackered had an important game against the totally clapped out, you van see that there is a kind of equality there, but now, in City's case it's the totally clapped out taking on the comparitively fresh as daisies Xl!
Fair comments, and I can't disagree on the whole, but we do need to reflect on one important factor: Football is much faster and more intense now than it was a couple of decades ago. Added to this, the laws of the game at the time allowed for endless messing about, repeatedly kicking the ball back to the goalie for example and having a breather while he picked it up and teed up his next pass to one of the centre backs. Teams like the great Liverpool side that you mention made an art form of this type of thing, preserving energy and taking the sting out of feisty opposition in one fell swoop.
Too right Gary, Bobby should have the team wound up and go play at hight tempo, he's bought the players to do it!!!
Brilliant article again Gary. This tired nonsense is really starting to bug me. The players should be deperate to play. Do they realise that if we actually win something, they will go down in MCFC's history as the team that stopped the rot, the team that brought success after so many years of hurt? They will become instant hero's and their names remembered by City fans forever. That should be more than enough to drive them on mentally - to be remembered in the same way as Bell, Summerbee, Lee, Young etc surely would make it all worthwhile(rather than the fat pay cheques). WINNING MENTALITY is what is needed - forget cheap excuses of sore legs. Any City fan worldwide would run themselves into the ground to guarantee a trophy. Come on lads(and Bobbie) think positive and do it for us - that way you'll never be forgotten long after the boots are hung up when you can rest as long as you want. Come on City!
Another excellent article from Gary Owen and how right he is.I actually fear the worst with this developing word of fatigue because it does get through to the players.
The bottom line is I think it is a show of very poor managerial abilities making such detrimental comments..... stupid in fact!
Couldn't agree with you more Gary. We are not the 1st team to play so many games, we are lucky to have the size of squad we do, and if we are to be successful we best get used to this quickly.
I do think we may be getting a bit of luck with the return of key players over the next few weeks and hopefully this will get us through.
The fans need to play their part as well, lets not get on the players backs when things aren't going so well, back them all the way, we can make a difference to the clubs fortunes this season. Lets get behind them and carry them over the line to at least a top 4 finish, a Wembley day out and a cracking night in Dublin !!!
CTID !!!
Positive attitude too true
However did Gary play in Europe or in the World Cup that often? - jet lag.
Although knowing modern footballers, like most young men no doubt up all night either playing on their PSP or chatting on mobiles to their mates - wherever in the world they live!
Early nights and a cocoa me thinks are required!
Absolutely agree
nice statement Gary, destination UEFA. Come on city
Spot on with your observation Gary. It's what I've been saying for the past couple of weeks. The more you talk about player fatigue the more players will use it as an excuse when things aren't going well. Roberto should keep his trap shut and keep his thoughts to himself.
Yes, just let them trade places (and pay packets) for a week with Miners, Nurses, Factory workers, Farmers and Labourers, etc. - then we'll see how tired they really are!!
While I agree with the sentiment that it's better just to knuckle down and get on with things rather than grumble and make excuses, Gary is comparing chalk and cheese here. The game today bares little resemblance to what went on thirty years ago, when the pace was slower and players could keep up even after a night on the ale. I can't see Silva, Balotelli and co putting in the required level of performance after eight pints of Landlord and a packet of Rothmans. Footballers today are as fit as any top athletes - which can't be said of our heroes of yesteryear. If you're driving a Capri it's ok to throw it around a little and you won't notice much of a dip in performance but if you are in a race-tuned Ferrari you have to take extra care.
Excellent article as usual Gary, agree with every word.
Maybe somebody with a bit of clout should tell the manager to keeo his mouth shut .dont sound like motivation to me.
A well written & interesting article...Can you imagine Brian Clough,Bill Shankly & the numerous other managers from those years replies too players telling them they were tired...Look at the lifestyle the present day players have,,,any tiredness is brought on by their own after school activities...
let's have Kris Akabusi awooogerin! down the touch line!!
What about the people who work in factory 6 days a week and play Sunday pub football with a hangover from the night before?
Agree with you again Gary !! I have posted several times in the last month the same.
Whilst i accept the game is much quicker now and just maybe takes out of the players
10 % more we cannot ignore that most successfull teams use the same 15 players week in week out . Fatique is talked about so much that the players are possible
feeling bloody tired !!!! What with the gloves and snods and don't forget the 80k aweek it must be a hard life ???
I think we would all cut them a little slack on the "fatigue" excuse if the weren't all earning such obscene amounts of money! For that we expect you to sweat blood and be happy about it, after all if you accept the "King's shilling", then you accept that your going to have to fight it out sometimes!
Look sharp Mancini, and rally the troops, let's hear some battle cries and fighting talk in future!