On a relatively quiet Saturday, honours for West Ham United related article of the day goes reluctantly to Simon Cass over at the Daily Mail for his feature on Steve Clarke.
Wily Clarke is the power behind the throne as Zola's Hammers go from strength to strength
by Simon Cass
An icy wind is cutting across an open field in Essex, a train rumbles past on the track close by, but a group of footballers are enjoying the challenge of another session with one of the brightest coaches of the modern game.
Gianfranco Zola has the ball at his feet and is closed down by hungry midfielders, no doubt including home-grown pair Mark Noble and Jack Collison.
But the man taking charge of this latest exercise is barking instructions and demanding more.
Steve Clarke, once of Chelsea, is Zola’s right-hand man and the West Ham players consider his input crucial as they continue to advance up the Barclays Premier League table.
Unbeaten away in their last six League games - they go to Arsenal - the improving fortunes are a result of Zola’s management, but also Clarke’s coaching.
While the little Italian is eager to play ball, Clarke takes all the sessions, organises the drills, calls the shots.
Training is based around short and sharp passing, closing down and hunting the ball in hungry packs, no long passing from back to front. It’s enough to warm the heart of any West Ham supporter, a club where they expect football to be played a certain way. For Clarke it is all about putting the drill on the training pitch into practice on the real thing.
‘Improving is all about repetition. The players work on how to receive the ball, how to see angles and how to pick a pass,’ he said.
‘We practise every day and, when it comes to Saturday, they know what to do: control and pass. Seeing it happen in games is our measure of success.’
Clarke has worked with some of the best in the game, after all. Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and even Luiz Felipe Scolari have all placed their faith in him. Understandably, Chelsea were sorry to see Clarke leave after he opted to work with his former Stamford Bridge colleague.
But now it is Zola’s turn to reap the benefits of working alongside a coach of Clarke’s undoubted ability, a fact borne out by West Ham’s recent upturn in form.
Taking the decision to quit the club for which he played 421 games before going on to work his way up through the coaching structure following a spell at Newcastle was clearly an emotional wrench for Clarke.
But while Scolari did his utmost to persuade Clarke to stay, describing him as ‘a man that is a link between me and the players and between me and the staff’, the Brazilian’s arrival left him feeling simply redundant on a training field where he had enjoyed significant input into the sessions under both Mourinho and Grant.
Significantly, it was Clarke who ran the set-piece drills under Scolari’s predecessors. Such has been Chelsea’s vulnerability in that area in recent weeks that the Brazilian may live to regret his reluctance to delegate responsibility a little more.
What is beyond doubt is the manner in which Clarke’s presence has been felt at West Ham. Having flirted dangerously with the relegation zone after losing four consecutive games in October, Zola’s side now sit in eighth place, a healthy 11 points away from the drop zone.
Zola is certainly indebted to his assistant for bringing his wealth of experience to West Ham’s training ground. ‘He knows a lot about the league and the way he organises the training sessions are unbelievable,’ said the manager.
‘I have to give him a lot of credit because a lot of the work that has gone on is because of his fantastic job.’
Chelsea’s multi-million pound Cobham headquarters, fingerprint entry system and all, may knock West Ham’s Chadwell Heath base into a cocked hat, but it is what goes on in the sessions out on the training field that really counts.
Wily Clarke is the power behind the throne as Zola's Hammers go from strength to strength
by Simon Cass
An icy wind is cutting across an open field in Essex, a train rumbles past on the track close by, but a group of footballers are enjoying the challenge of another session with one of the brightest coaches of the modern game.
Gianfranco Zola has the ball at his feet and is closed down by hungry midfielders, no doubt including home-grown pair Mark Noble and Jack Collison.
But the man taking charge of this latest exercise is barking instructions and demanding more.
Steve Clarke, once of Chelsea, is Zola’s right-hand man and the West Ham players consider his input crucial as they continue to advance up the Barclays Premier League table.
Unbeaten away in their last six League games - they go to Arsenal - the improving fortunes are a result of Zola’s management, but also Clarke’s coaching.
While the little Italian is eager to play ball, Clarke takes all the sessions, organises the drills, calls the shots.
Training is based around short and sharp passing, closing down and hunting the ball in hungry packs, no long passing from back to front. It’s enough to warm the heart of any West Ham supporter, a club where they expect football to be played a certain way. For Clarke it is all about putting the drill on the training pitch into practice on the real thing.
‘Improving is all about repetition. The players work on how to receive the ball, how to see angles and how to pick a pass,’ he said.
‘We practise every day and, when it comes to Saturday, they know what to do: control and pass. Seeing it happen in games is our measure of success.’
Clarke has worked with some of the best in the game, after all. Ruud Gullit, Sir Bobby Robson, Jose Mourinho, Avram Grant and even Luiz Felipe Scolari have all placed their faith in him. Understandably, Chelsea were sorry to see Clarke leave after he opted to work with his former Stamford Bridge colleague.
But now it is Zola’s turn to reap the benefits of working alongside a coach of Clarke’s undoubted ability, a fact borne out by West Ham’s recent upturn in form.
Taking the decision to quit the club for which he played 421 games before going on to work his way up through the coaching structure following a spell at Newcastle was clearly an emotional wrench for Clarke.
But while Scolari did his utmost to persuade Clarke to stay, describing him as ‘a man that is a link between me and the players and between me and the staff’, the Brazilian’s arrival left him feeling simply redundant on a training field where he had enjoyed significant input into the sessions under both Mourinho and Grant.
Significantly, it was Clarke who ran the set-piece drills under Scolari’s predecessors. Such has been Chelsea’s vulnerability in that area in recent weeks that the Brazilian may live to regret his reluctance to delegate responsibility a little more.
What is beyond doubt is the manner in which Clarke’s presence has been felt at West Ham. Having flirted dangerously with the relegation zone after losing four consecutive games in October, Zola’s side now sit in eighth place, a healthy 11 points away from the drop zone.
Zola is certainly indebted to his assistant for bringing his wealth of experience to West Ham’s training ground. ‘He knows a lot about the league and the way he organises the training sessions are unbelievable,’ said the manager.
‘I have to give him a lot of credit because a lot of the work that has gone on is because of his fantastic job.’
Chelsea’s multi-million pound Cobham headquarters, fingerprint entry system and all, may knock West Ham’s Chadwell Heath base into a cocked hat, but it is what goes on in the sessions out on the training field that really counts.
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1 comment:
i think steve clarke has been our best signing of the season n i said that when he come over to work at west ham he has been superb for chelsea now as u say we will finally reap sum rewards of this expirence.
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