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One of the richest entities of their sport? Check. Perplexed form? Bingo. A number of high -level players who find it difficult to reach the heights they are capable of? It seems familiar. Several years without the titles they want most? Yeah. A head coach pleading for patience when he is building a new team?
The comparison is far from one by one, but the similarities shared between the difficulties of Manchester United of Ruben Amorim and the England of Steve Barthwick are obvious. If there are ways in which the worlds of international rugby and club football could not be more distant – Amorim had 19 games in charge in three months; Barthwick 29 Fixtures in two years-the two head coaches are struggling with a fans base, conference room conflicts above them and a game team may not yet be built on their preferred requirements .
Their common pain is the one Richard Wigglesworth, senior assistant from Barthwick and Manchester United fan for life, feels particularly acute. Born in Blackpool, educated in Kirkham, a boy from Lancashire who spent his training days enjoying the years of glory of Sir Alex Ferguson and his professional career by winning seven titles of Prime Minister and 33 caps of England speaks with An obvious passion for the two fallen giants.
The slump may not be as deep for England as their humble football counterparts, despite a shock victory in FA on Rivals Man City last year, but Wigglesworth can relate to fans who want more their side. “I will never criticize fans to have an opinion that is not passionate,” explains the old half of melee. “We want to win. You know me – I appreciate victory.
“Fans want to leave the match happy and they want to watch a team go with this feeling – as I do with United, and as I did when I was a fan, and not a player or a coach, rugby in England.”
“But not everyone can win all the time, right away. We work for this process to occur, but there is evidence to support the best way to create good teams over time. We will get there.
Wigglesworth, like most of the rest of the staff in England, is new for international coaching. After having succeeded Barthwick as an acting coach at Leicester Tigers while simultaneously concluding his playing career, he joined the national team before the 2023 World Cup and has since supervised the implementation of two contrasting strategies. During this tournament, England favored a pressure match for pressure while they were trying to instill a rudimentary game plan that would precipitate rapid but limited progress. Since then, however, they have adopted a more positive approach, trying to play with more speed and aggression to seize opportunities.
Although they remain a extinct way of the best world teams, their attack coach believes that England is starting to prepare to associate Smith and Marcus Smith in the game partnership against France at the end.
“”[Being a coach] Change your perspective massively, ”admits Wigglesworth. “You are thinking of people in it, hard work, the challenges they must be confronted and the small pieces of the rise you see.
“For Man Utd, you see players against Arsenal and I see them sprinter and I think, as a fan, that I have not seen this for a long time. [Amorim] said they want them to run like wild dogs and I see him.
“We see green shoots from this team from England – we play quickly, we are aggressive and we are marking tests against Ireland. Then, against South Africa, we marked tests with a limited balloon and limited possession because we seem a little more dangerous.
“When do we look dangerous for the last time with the ball?” We have marked three tests [against Ireland]. We had 11 breeze-more than what we had before a good defense that does not abandon the breeze. There are things to come – but I don’t ask anyone not to be passionate about the results. “”
Much of the cross pollination continues in the sports coaching circles Elite: Mikel Arteta, for example, regularly consulted Eddie Jones in the past, as well as the British and British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell. Perhaps over time, Wigglesworth will have reasons to meet Amorim, of which he is very intrigued and impressed.
These are the beginnings for the Portuguese coach in English football, but the former half—matched highlights his ruthlessability and honesty as key qualities. Speaking both as a fan and colleague coach, Wigglesworth hopes that the sixth permanent director of Old Trafford from Ferguson obtains the time necessary to adopt a necessary overhaul.
“I am fascinated by this coach and, with my limited knowledge of football, just looking at him as a coach and how he speaks, he is the real deal”, does Wigglesworth. “I love the way he talks about the team.
“He is honest and he was criticized to be like this, players. He appears as honest. He seems to value good things is that you cannot win unless you can run. They continued to do this thing where they change, they change, they change and now they are in their worst moment of all time.
“As a fan, I think someone must have time to grasp this and settle it. Otherwise, everything starts again: the staff, the players all change. It is not the way to do so. You need the right man. For me, he looks incredibly impressive. So, over time, the resources – and a little luck that everyone always needs – it would be good to see him return. »»
