15-year-old Pep Guardiola (left) looks up in awe as Terry Venables climbs onto the shoulders of his players after Barcelona& Victory over IFK Gothenburg in the 1986 European Cup semi-final
An image was posted on Instagram following the death of Terry Venables. It shows a 15-year-old Pep Guardiola, then a ballplayer, looking adoringly from the Camp Nou pitch as the then Barcelona coach sat on the shoulders of one of his players after the 1986 European Cup semi-final victory over IFK. Gothenburg
The photo was published by Guardiola and showed Venables' importance to his career. Given that the Manchester City manager is considered the greatest and most innovative manager of his generation, this is something of a tribute.
Of course, Guardiola is a Barcelona fan first and foremost. He also grew up in an era when English clubs dominated European football, which became his reference point and probably helped him to want to coach in the Premier League one day. It's no surprise that he stayed at City longer than at Barcelona or Bayern.
If Johan Cruyff is remembered as the architect of the modern Barcelona, the first coach to win the European Cup, and Guardiola as his disciple who turned the club into serial winners, then Venables – “El Tel” – was the one who helped create the foundations for that dynasty.
His first season? He regained the Spanish title for the first time in over ten years. Second season? He led Barcelona to the European Cup final for the first time in a quarter of a century.
El Tel brought success back to Barcelona. Photo: Colorsport/Shutterstock
But there was more to it than that. Venables was an innovative and visionary coach, something Guardiola witnessed during his formative years.
Venables' training sessions have been described as laboratory experiments – with meticulous set-pieces and meticulous planning, even when it came to throwing shots. -ins.
“He has fantastic tactical awareness,” Gareth Southgate once said, and Venables’ profound influence on the current England manager is well documented. “Every senior player in the group came away having learned from him, and that's an achievement.”
The key to this was not only Venables' keen analytical mind, but also his good handling of the players. For example, coaching sessions were not repeated. There was always something new to make them think, and Venables listened to the feedback. He knew how important good training was to the outcome of the game and left no chance to chance. Venables even had his own player rating system known as TTPP (Tactics, Technicality, Pace, Personality).Venables with his new British players Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes at Barcelona in 1986. Photo: Getty Images/Bob Thomas
The title of Venable's autobiography, Born to Control, was therefore apt, as his tactical acumen was evident from an early age. One well-quoted example is that in 1965, when Chelsea drew with Roma in the Fairs Cup, they led 4-1 in the return leg and manager Tommy Docherty wanted his team to play their usual attacking game .
Venables, the captain and midfielder who was only 22, disagreed and advised Marvin Hinton to drop deeper and play as a sweeper. The game ended goalless and Chelsea took the lead.
By the age of 24, Venables had earned his coaching badges; by 29, he was coaching under another progressive, Malcolm Ellison, at Crystal Palace, whom Venables turned into what became known as the Team of the 80s.
His influences were drawn from various parts of the world. Unsurprisingly, Venables was indebted to the Liverpool side of the 1970s, emulating their offside play, as George Graham – a friend of Venables – did when he moved to Arsenal. It showed that he could also be pragmatic and diligent – and he was not opposed to any kind of game management – but his football was always excellent.
“He showed that England's failure was down to coaching, not with the players”
Thirty years ago, Venables forced Tony Adams to play the ball out of defense while he changed formations to adapt to the opposition. England famously switched from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 and back again at Euro 96.
Gary Neville touched on this topic when describing how he played as a regular right-back during the tournament against Switzerland, then on the right side of a back three against Scotland and even as a right winger when England were in possession. third group game against the Netherlands before being used as a right-back against Spain.
“The ability with which we had to change systems during matches and from game to game was incredible, it amazed me,” Neville wrote on social media.
And it must be remembered that he took charge of England after how they failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup under Graham Taylor, and transformed a team that had been ridiculed for its rudimentary tactics. This occurred at a time when the standard of English football was at a low level and lacked sophistication and adaptability. Venables showed it was the manager's fault, not the players'.
Neville also discussed another aspect of Venables that all great managers like Guardiola share. Fully supporting the players he believed in, he was also ruthless when necessary.
This was a vital ingredient, along with his ability to manage people, his collegial approach, and his tactical and technical ability that made him the father of many modern coaches.
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