\n<\/p>\n
I’ve loved the World Cup since I saw Denmark at Mexico ’86 as a boy – my dad would record the matches overnight so I could watch them with my sister before school the next morning, a lot like kids today are still doing 40 years later!<\/b><\/p>\n
I can still enjoy it like a fan now, but of course I think like a manager when I am covering games as a pundit.<\/p>\n
While I still get excited by the emotion and the whole spectacle of the supporters who are following teams like Scotland, Norway and the Netherlands at this tournament, I see matches more analytically – what the tactical trends are and what different coaches are doing.<\/p>\n
I also love to see new players for myself. Even with all the data that is available about almost everyone, there are still some surprises out there.<\/p>\n
You might find someone who you’ve not heard of who is interesting – or, with someone you do know about, get a chance to watch them properly yourself for the first time.<\/p>\n
At this World Cup, for example, I’ve already done that with two Ivory Coast players.<\/p>\n
RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is the talk of the town for everyone at the moment and we actually looked at him when I was at Brentford, when he played for Spanish side Leganes.<\/p>\n
He was always on our radar then so he is a player I have been aware of for a while, and of course I had seen him – but that was just a lot of clips maybe, or a few highlights from a downloaded game. That is how it is presented to you when you are scouting someone to sign them, unless it is a top priority and you would watch full games.<\/p>\n
Now, though, I have just watched him play a whole match against Germany, so I saw everything about him. I will hopefully see him again over two or three, or even more, matches in the coming weeks too.<\/p>\n
I could look up some clips or study his data any time, but now what he can do is stored in the hard disk in my head. As a coach, that is always how you prefer to remember players, and what they can bring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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