da dobrowin： Bolton came close to gaining a point at Old Trafford on Saturday. With the game at 0-0, Jussi Jaaskelainen’s fumble allowed Dimitar Berbatov to secure a late winner for League leaders Manchester United. But after the game Coyle refused to blame Jaaskelainen, he said ‘we win as a team, we lose as a team’. I love this positive attitude towards team unity and I think it is one of the things that has made Owen Coyle one of the best managers in the Premier League this season.
da betway： I think it is this atmosphere, where everyone is part of the team, that has seen Owen Coyle contribute to the development of Jack Wilshere. This season he is doing it again with Daniel Sturridge. Owen Coyle is fantastic at getting the best out of players, he does this by building player’s confidence; self-belief is crucial both to form and in realising potential.
One way to give a player this confidence is to just play them every game; let him know that he is valued . The other way is to make them feel part of the unit. Young lads from Chelsea and Arsenal train in a squad of international super-stars. I doubt they feel they belong at that level until they break in to the first team. But it is tough to break through because of the quality of competition. It is even harder to develop if you don’t get to play.
This year Daniel Sturridge has scored 4 goals in 6 games for Bolton – it looks like he is fulfilling his potential. Last season Wilshere spent the latter half of the season at The Reebok Stadium with Owen Coyle. He played 14 times and scored once. It might have only been a short period of playing Premier League football, but there was less pressure on Wilshere at Bolton. This way Wilshere got some experience of playing top flight football but did so under less scrutiny. The benefits of this have been demonstrated by Wilshere’s form this year.
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The last thing a young player needs is a manager who is feared. Owen Coyle is definitely not that. He is a tracksuit manager and loves getting involved with the players, so no player is isolated. Coyle tries to play all his players at darts or table-tennis, it might sound stupid but it is the type of non-formal situation to get to know your manager and it is a great way to make players feel part of the club. He also loves a to play in training sessions and has even played for the reserve team this season.
Coyle’s skills are not limited to young players; Johan Elmander has improved dramatically this year. In the previous two seasons he was a player who was strong and skilful but just didn’t seem to have the confidence a striker needs to score goals, but this season he has already scored 10 goals in the Premier League.
Coyle has taken Bolton from a team who had been accused of playing one dimensional football to a team who play good football and every player contributes. Players don’t look scared to attack, and have a great team spirit; Coyle’s enthusiasm is infectious.
Coyle is not afraid to give the likes of Wilshere and Sturridge regular first team action, he backs their ability and builds players up with confidence so they can realise that potential. Having shown that he can get the most out of players, young and old, I would not be surprised if he ends up at a top club in the coming years.
Share this appreciation of Owen Coyle, one of the few tracksuit managers in the Premier League? Get in touch with Joe here.
Perhaps Wellington Silva will visit the renowned Owen Coyle finishing school soon…
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