The players are what matter most. Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese will tell you as much, as will almost every coach in Major League Soccer. Most even believe it, especially ones like Savarese, who spent decades on the field before moving to the sidelines. Come the final whistle, in a predominant number of games we watch, the players’ decisions, performances and conflicts decide the outcome.
The fact that coaches have to bring those groups of 11 potential match-winners together is what makes their part so intriguing. They’ll cover a fraction of the distance of their players and, comparatively, exert a miniscule amount of the effort.