Arsenal, FC: Small Group Team Analysis - Essay Example

? Small Group Team Amongst all the sports where victory is often contingent on team dynamics, football is perhaps a sport which requires the most fluid communication flow between the playing eleven on the field. The communication factor comes into play even more so in club football, where players from different nationalities play as part of the same team. Reflective of the current trends of globalization, club football especially in the English Premier league is home to stars from all continents backed by strong financial investments. With high expectations attached to their performances, all the players are expected to gel in well with their team mates and compete against top teams as a strong unit. A team that has historically been known for its slick passing game, Arsenal, an English football club based in London have recently come under a lot of scrutiny for underperforming, for which miscommunication amongst the players has been cited as a major issue. Having seen a season where they remained unbeatable and were crowned the champion of English football in 2003/2004, Arsenal has been devoid of any silverware in English football since 2005. The period following their epoch of glory has been marked by established players leaving the club and new faces coming in. This reshuffling has resulted in a lag in performance as it has taken time for the new players to settle in. On the 26th of February Arsenal’s match against Tottenham Hotspurs provided some interesting insight on the team’s communication dynamics. Even though Arsenal won the game 5-2, a number of gaps were evident in the team dynamics that the squad needs to work on. .  Arsenal’s performance in recent times has been marred by a lack of leadership, especially after a number of star performers had left. This lack of a figurehead has been clinical in Arsenal’s poor performance this season. In any team the players generally look up to a specific player who is a strong performer and inevitably a strong leader, such a personality is especially important for new and young players who are looking for support in a new environment. Since the start of this season the Arsenal players have found their leader in Robin Van Persie, Arsenal’s star striker whose statistics stand out from the rest of the team. Before their match with Tottenham, the team was seen warming up on the ground. A particular pattern was noticeable, about half of the team was warming up around the captain in the form of a circle and all of them were facing him. Even though this practice was individual in nature as every player was warming up on his own yet their positions unintentionally reaffirmed their faith in their captain. This was followed by the captain dispatching instructions and sharing a strategy with all the players. Interestingly, the captain had 2 or 3 senior players standing by his side while having the pre-match team talk with the younger players. When the match started Arsenal conceded two quick goals, both of them caused by defensive lapses. After the first goal one of the senior defenders was seen talking loudly to one of the younger players, while the goal keeper looked at his defenders frustratingly with his hands on his back. This behavior was noticeable especially among the senior-to-junior player interaction and continued till Arsenal leveled the scores and the team got a necessary morale boost. The captain’s behavior during all of this offers a different perspective, he was seen patting the head of the young player as a sign of encouragement and constantly trying to lift the team spirit up by chanting cheers. As a positive, the players were seen lauding each other after a good tackle was made or a close shot on goal was attempted. It is important to understand that football being a team game requires equal amounts of effort and commitment from each player. A weak link can cause the whole team’s efforts to go in vain. This is perhaps why some of the more experienced players are seen castigating some of the more ambitious young players to keep their focus intact and not leave the team vulnerable at any point. On one hand where some senior players take on the role of disciplining the younger players, some players are seen trying to encourage them and not let their morale down because at this level of professional football with thousands of fans eying each move, it is very easy to lose your nerves. So two forces of team dynamics are often seen counter balancing each other to create equilibrium. This phenomenon is abundant in Arsenal’s game because a majority of players in the squad are relatively young and inexperienced and require guidance from the senior players to improve their game. Up till now we have discussed behavioral dynamics of the players, but there is a deeper layer of communication embedded beneath the surface that is observable especially in football. Arsenal’s game style has always been distinguished by fast and accurate passing. This is only possible if both the passer and the receiver can anticipate each other’s moves and remain a step ahead of the opponents. During the first half of the game, the team was struggling to complete its passes, with players often over running or sending the passes wide. The wingers seemed especially frustrated at not receiving the passes where they wanted them, while the midfielders were frustrated that the wingers weren’t there to receive the passes at the right place. This discrepancy existed because the players were wrongly anticipating each other’s moves based on their own reality. The team was only able to overcome this error in the second half where they were able to find more rhythm and coherence. What behavior indicated a supportive or defensive communication climate? Why?  It was encouraging to see that the players looked up to their captain and were keen to listen to what he had to say. This was a result of the captain giving an ear to what some of the younger players had to say. And the captain involving some of the senior players in strategy formulation showed signs of mutual respect. This is important because for a team already struggling with a plethora of youngsters who haven’t developed their potential, healthy relationships among the senior players is conducive for growth. Thus the teams overall behavior with their captain, and in turn the captain’s behavior towards them was indicative of a supportive communication culture where individuality was celebrated. Also some of the players were allowed to shift their positions during the course of the match if they saw a potential of better performance, specially the defense facilitating the attack. Although this allowed flexibility, but this was also the very reason the team conceded the goals. Which then demonstrates a weaker side of communication, especially among the senior-junior interaction. The senior players have recently come under fire for below par performances and this is perhaps why they’ve become very defensive in their approach especially when it comes to some of the younger players whose recklessness at times can cost a game. Even during the match, the senior players were often seen dispatching instructions towards the juniors and shouting at them for lapses in performance. And it can be seen that they are using this element of seniority rather ruthlessly. This obviously leads to hostility from both sides with diminishing mutual respect and leads to communication breakdowns amongst the players. This is the reason why the team was all over the place during the first 30 minutes and it took individual shades of brilliance from the captain and a couple of other players to get the team leveled up. The drawback of such an environment is that the player turnover becomes really high on the long run with most players preferring to move to better prospects with a friendlier environment. Overall the team demonstrated discipline when it came to communicating with each other, the only glitch being the senior-junior rift and that even, to a certain extent. In recent matches some players including the captain have been dissatisfied with the substitution strategies of the coach, and this has caused speculations of internal problems within the team to float around, further damaging the team’s morale. But the team showed character when it came back from a two goal deficit to secure an emphatic win despite odds stacked heavily against them. This was a result of coordinated efforts between the team members with each player realizing his responsibilities and performing as required. A hindrance to communication, especially among the newer players has been the change in environment. Life in England is very different as compared to other parts of the world, even other parts of Europe. Consequently some players have complained about communication issues in the team. Often this happens due to differing ethnic, linguistic and racial backgrounds. One of the new players, Per Mertesacker has raised the issue of communication within the team and has insisted that this remains an area where the team needs to work (Sportsmail 2011). The dynamics of English football are quite distinct, marked by a fast paced, high tempo game, thus players coming in from other leagues take time to adjust to this change. Even on the day of the match with Tottenham some players were seen struggling with the game pace as compared to other, resulting in a performance gap. It needs to noted that this shortcoming is unintentional and requires time to be dealt with. But with heavy interests invested in the club and its players, professionals are expected to quickly overcome any such hurdles. With the current squad consisting of players from over 16 different nationalities, concentrated efforts are required to make this diversity advantageous rather than a cause of weakness. The players are well aware of the dire situation the club is in this season and have stepped up their efforts to gel in well with the others, this was evident in the acknowledgment the players gave to each other after the team found some resonance in their game against Tottenham. The linguistic barrier is the most evident barrier of verbal communication amongst the players with English and French being the most dominant languages. This is more important off the field than on it. During the match barriers to effective listening occur when there is a lack of strategic congruency and players have differing tactics in mind. During the match the wingers were often seen making runs expecting a pass but to no avail, and at times crossing the ball into the box without anyone there to receive it. This points towards some members of the team not following the strategy laid out or not being able to understand their fellow team member’s movements. Since football requires coordinated movements among the players, any single individual trying to play according to a personal strategy is termed as selfish as more often than not, the efforts go in vain. As mentioned earlier, a defensive communication climate leads to players not paying heed to each other’s suggestions, which makes the team strategy formulation unsubstantiated as all the players aren’t willing to listen. Glimpses of resulting repercussions were seen in the earlier minutes of the game as the team was stuck in the middle of an overly aggressive and a slightly defensive game style, consequently leaving the team at the mercy of the opposition’s counter attacks. Player to player interaction isn’t the only dimension of communication in football, the coach is also pivotal in strategy formulation which is usually game specific. At Arsenal, many players are now starting to disagree with the coach’s football philosophies as they aren't bearing the expected fruit. The coach is naturally resisting change in strategy but not all players are confirming to this inertia. The coach has even criticized his team’s ‘lack of concentration, communication and coordination (Burt 2011). At this crucial moment in time the captain’s ability to keep the team glued together is a blessing, which has primarily been a result of his exceptional performance this season. He remains Arsenal’s heard voice for now as his performance on the field substantiates his words. This observation of Arsenal FC’s team dynamics and communication flow is an interesting perspective on the functioning of a football team and how lags in this area easily translate to performances. Arsenal’s ability as a team has always been defined by its performance as a team, but the disappearance of that clinical team coherence has led to a paradigm shift in the team dynamics, with a young captain now directing the team and keeping it bonded rather than each individual contributing to the sense of unity. The advent of new players from varied backgrounds remains a decelerator of growth as each new member has to inducted into the team culture, naturally taking time to understand the dynamics of the team game. Thus it is a matter of time that the team will be able to communicate effectively on the precondition that too many changes don’t take place. In professional football, effective communication is more a function of time than chemistry because athletes are expected to be able to adapt to their respective teams by default. References 1. Sportsmail Reporter. (6th October, 2011). Mertesacker admits to communication problems but insists mistakes are inevitable. Mail Online. 27th February, 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2046070/Per-Mertesacker-Arsenal-communication-problems.html#ixzz1nh4nEeL4 2. Burt, J. (19th September, 2011). Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger attacks his team's 'lack of concentration, communication and co-ordination'. The Telegraph. 28th February, 2012. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/8775375/Arsenal-manager-Arsene-Wenger-attacks-his-teams-lack-of-concentration-communication-and-co-ordination.html Read More