Upon hearing the term investment, it’s hard not to picture huge bags of cash being dragged in our direction by a super rich sheik, oligarch, or global brand.
After all, it wasn’t that long ago we were given our very own bags of cash by an American sugar daddy. Unfortunately, they ended up in the hands of a chiseler who went on to squander them and abandon us the second the money ran out.
However not all investment is monetary. If it were, I suspect we’d be ruined by now. Thankfully there are other forms of investment.
If we are able to look beyond the horrid “hoof” football, dreadful passing, worse possession, and absence of creativity that has been all too frequent this year; underneath it all there are major long term investments being made, often at the cost of short term dividends.
These investments are a big contributor to many of our frustrations, making us very unpredictable. One minute we’re playing like an Irish pub team the morning after St Paddy’s day, the next we look world class. We could lose to the worst team in the league one day, then beat the best the next week. We are a bit like how Churchill described Russia “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
So if we’re not investing serious coin into the team, then what investments are we making? I would argue we are investing heavily in 3 main areas…
- Tactical Adaptability
- Team Culture
- Player Development
Tactical Adaptability
When considering what drives success, the significance of adaptability is all too often overlooked. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ but very few appreciate the meaning that underpins it. The theory of evolution is possibly the most misinterpreted idea ever, even used by the selfish and sociopathic to justify shocking acts of greed and ruthlessness.
Charles Darwin’s real meaning was “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
It’s not just Darwin either, in many branches of psychology, philosophy, and business theory place huge value on adaptability, agility and behavioural flexibility.
So my point is, adaptability is very important in life, and it’s just as important in football. Most teams, especially British ones, lack tactical flexibility, preferring more rigidly defined systems and roles. At Ajax, young players learn to play every position before specialising.
I’m not comparing what we’re doing to their total football, but by changing shape & tactics so frequently and by asking players to play in a number positions we’re getting some of the same longer term benefits of this approach.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a very strong argument for having a settled starting XI and style of play, but it is worth bearing in mind there is a stronger longer term, maybe even a shorter term, argument for what sometimes looks like tinkering. Gus Poyet’s pre-match comments add weight to this case.
“Villa are a very strange team to play against, they can change systems, play on the break, play direct or put three at the back. I’ve seen a few of their games and I’ve been surprised how quickly they’ve been able to change systems.”
“That’s impressive. They can be struggling for 45 minutes, but then for the next 45, they are outstanding. They’ve had 20 minutes when they’ve played well in the last couple of games and that’s been enough.”
Team Culture
Like or loathe Paul Lambert, even the ardent haters, maybe even Steamer, must surely accept the spirit and character amongst the players is impressive. When looking for quotes to support this claim you are spoilt for choice, but the most recent came from Dion Dublin’s love child Fabian Delph.
“We’ve got a lot of fire in our bellies. We won’t sit down and we won’t give up – we keep fighting for each other. It’s a close-knit group. We’re like brothers who fight every minute of every game.”
If you give a group of humble young lads confidence in their abilities, and the opportunity to prove it in the worlds greatest league, then keep that group together so they can grow collectively – it stands to reason a bond will develop. This bond is probably the biggest reason we’re picking up points we’d have lost last season.
Team culture is vital to success. After all, it was teamwork and collaboration that enabled the first human ancestors to evolve from primates, leaving the jungles, and venturing out into the grasslands to eventually populate the world. It was collaboration and social structure that helped modern man ‘Homo Sapiens’ flourish and defeat the stronger and dominant ‘Homo Erectus’. It’s teamwork and culture that will provide our team with the foundations to build future success.
Player Development
And finally, the most obvious investment is that made in our squad full of young inexperienced players, players that should in theory at least improve as they they gain experience. I won’t labour this point because it should be self-evident.
Under Investment
However, it’s not all good, and no amount of positivity can paper over the cracks. The club has failed to invest in two crucial areas and it needs to change. If these aren’t addressed, they could overshadow the other investments being made.
The most important of these is our abject failure to invest in possession based passing football and to a lesser degree on wing based attacking (that one’s just for you Frem). This has led to woeful home form and is simply not acceptable. It can be forgiven but only for so long.
When we failed to land the much coveted lock picker, the writing was on the wall and most of us suspected we’d struggle, but I didn’t expect us to get worse stylistically. It’s hard to deny that we’re a long ball, how can you when we’re top of the long ball table. I don’t believe this is by design – we aren’t trying to emulate the old Wimbledon Crazy Gang – but nonetheless it needs to be addressed. Entertainment and style are arguably just as important at results.
The second area that is under-invested in is, not surprisingly, our transfer budget. I’m a big supporter of the approach we’ve taken, and not having funds is in some ways a blessing in disguise. Given the context and £200m+ already sunk in, I appreciate and accept why this has happened. But as our financial position changes, the bags of cash need to start reappearing – they can’t disappear forever.
With more money, it stands to reason we’d be able to bring in even more talented young players that are also humble and ambitious. I don’t think it would take much either, we now have enough depth of squad, all we need is an injection of quality. If a couple of players like Viktor Fischer and Jack Rodwell were looking to join our experiment, they could potentially have an enormous impact.
So there are some areas of concern that we need to see addressed, I don’t believe there is a single fan that wouldn’t take issue with the areas in which we are under-investing. But, in my eyes at least, the negatives are more than offset by the positives. Whilst the unpredictability and woeful home form might be difficult to swallow, at least we can take consolation in the longer term benefits and prospects of a brighter future.
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