Experience has to be coupled with the ability to still perform, and I think it's more useful particularly in the CL

It's hugely important, not just in football but pretty much everything in life.

I think experience counts for something behind the scenes, on the training pitch or in the dressing room. The older players can be a huge help to the younger ones but as soon as you get out on the pitch, it kinda goes out the window.

I mean if a young player is having a mare in front of 40-50k fans, its gonna take more than a calming word from a senior player to sort him out

I think experience can count for more than just big games and cup finals.

It can be hugely important in title run ins also. It may not always be the deciding factor in such cases, but it can make the difference.

Of course experience counts. Having a steady head to calm the younger players around him can be pivotal. As can knowing when to slow down the pace of a game, when to sit when to go, take chances or play safe etc. Decision making also improves with age. Unless you're Nani.

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)
posted 44 seconds ago
I think experience can count for more than just big games and cup finals.

It can be hugely important in title run ins also. It may not always be the deciding factor in such cases, but it can make the difference.
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That's where Gerrard fell down then probably.

Fergie's overreliance on experience cost us in the title race in 2012. He picked players with nothing left in the tank and it cost us dearly, with the Wigan and Everton games and results being particularly galling.

And the City one, merry.

the decisive blow. We really did throw that away

Experience is a two edged sword.

Merry has just shown the err of having to much.

Arsenal, for example, over the last ten years or so have shown the err of having too little.

We really did throw that away

.................

I always put it down to one specific moment in time. The second time we went 2 goals up against Everton.

That is when SAF should have taken Scholes off. He had been huffing and puffing twenty minutes before that.

comment by Vidicschin (U3584)
posted 2 minutes ago
We really did throw that away

.................

I always put it down to one specific moment in time. The second time we went 2 goals up against Everton.

That is when SAF should have taken Scholes off. He had been huffing and puffing twenty minutes before that.
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Good point VC and one that was made by a few at the time. I can't remember who we had on the bench off the top of my head, but he needed to get some fresh legs on at that point to close the space down in midfield.

Elvis

Jones eventually came on to replace him. Jones had been doing a pretty good job of DM at the time when called upon.

When we went two up for the first time I said to my Mrs that Scholes was knackered and Jones needed to come on and shore up the midfield.

One of those very rare occasions I hated being right.

Perfect example of that two edged sword you speak of, VC.

Scholes coming out of retirement helped us get into the position to win the title.

Him not being taken off could very well be the main reason we didn't win it in the end.

Young players will say it can be useful off the scenes and on the training pitch, but, I don't think it is that big of a deal. Young players should be told off their managers about composure, decision making etc. That should be one of his prime jobs.

Indeed Dazza.

I think it also peed Pogba off.

Composure and decision making usually comes with experience in situation needed rather than all from the manager.

There's only so much a manager can do. The player has as big a role in his own development in those aspects.

Fergie coached Rooney and Ronaldo and their composure and decision making improved with experience.

Nani was coached by him as well and that didn't improve with experience, though. Neither did Welbeck really.

So the player has to take that experience of in game situations and improve it themselves. It's a mental aspect that is particular to the individual. Some have some don't.

comment by Darren The King Fletcher (U10026)

posted 4 minutes ago

Composure and decision making usually comes with experience in situation needed rather than all from the manager.

There's only so much a manager can do. The player has as big a role in his own development in those aspects.

Fergie coached Rooney and Ronaldo and their composure and decision making improved with experience.

Nani was coached by him as well and that didn't improve with experience, though. Neither did Welbeck really.

So the player has to take that experience of in game situations and improve it themselves. It's a mental aspect that is particular to the individual. Some have some don't.
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All a manager needs to say to a player is: "just keep your composure in your game, on and off the ball and make the decisions that will benefit the team." Players aren't stupid, they will know what that means. Youngsters need encouraging more than having an experienced word in their ear.

Rooney will have been tutored by RVN maybe, but do you think that made him into the player he now is? The same case with Ronaldo, possibly tutored by Giggs, but did that make him the player he is now? Rooney and Ronaldo had little experience at United, but they flourished, nothing to do with experience.

Were they given enough game time? Were they given the sufficient attention they needed? They are still unanswered questions we will never know most likely, so that's just an assumption.

The only experience players get is through mistakes. If they make a mistake, youngsters will need their manager to raise their confidence levels and make sure they learn from that mistake. That's the biggest part experience plays in a footballers career imo.

But that is where good management comes in, knowing the balance and when to use experience and when not to.

It's a great tool but has to be used wisely.

It doesn't have to be used wisely. It needs to be used every time it is needed, that way players get the same treatment.

Using it wisely is the same as using it when it is needed.

Do you understand what the word wise means?

Yes but using it wisely can be out into different contexts. Using it wisely sounds like it is a privilege and it can't just be thrown around to everybody you like. That's how I interpreted it, so apologies if I got that one wrong.