The biggest thing about the loss, though, was the way it happened. Arsenal had most of the possession, they passed it around well. They even created a few chances and all, but in the end they could not score. They couldn’t make the most of having controlled possession.

Chelsea on the other hand, had 3 shots all match. 2 of them went in, and 1 hit the crossbar. That’s pure efficiency. And that’s why we won.

And I think that’s true of anything in life as well. It’s all well and good being elegant and all, but at the end of the day, you need to be aware of whatever opportunities come up.You’ll always have opportunities and chances to achieve what you want. But you need to take your chances, or you’ll never win.

What opportunities around you are missing?

I love poker because, to me, it’s a very nice interesection of math and human behavior, with a bit of luck thrown in. There’s one thing about my experience so far that’s made me think, though.

I’ve been on a relatively good run over the last month, but there have been up and downs. There are certain streaks when I keep losing money, and it makes me wonder if I’m really just not that good. But I think poker has taught me to trust myself, and keep at what I’m doing. Of course, that’s not the full story. If things continually go wrong, you need to reflect and see where you’re at, and adjust accordingly. The challenge is to find the right balance.

And I think it’s the same in life. Things won’t always go your way, sometimes you don’t get the results you want. The challenge is to determine whether it’s just a short term lull which will improve if you keep sticking to your guns, or whether it’s really a flaw in your strategy which you need to adjust.

I know Einstein said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”, but sometimes, I think that does happen. Especially if you get caught up in the short term results.

How do you decide when you should stick to your guns; at what point do you decide that you have to change your strategy?

Here’s what I think is missing from Arsenal’s current team: match winners. A player (or players) who can make something out of nothing. A player who can produce one moment of magic and win a game for his team when things are tough. A player who steps up and makes things happen.

Manchester United have many players who are capable of that – Ronaldo, Rooney, even Giggs and Scholes. Liverpool have the likes of Torres and Gerrard. Chelsea have Lampard, Drogba, perhaps Deco.

That’s what Arsenal lack. A player with that quality. The technical ability in the team is there, there just isn’t that one magic player who you can count on to make things happen when things get tough.

That’s the essence of leadership, in my opinion. And it’s important in any organization, company or team. No matter what you’re doing, you need leaders. Not managers, but leaders – who take initiative to drive the team forward.

Those leaders, the people who make things happen, can bring the group to a whole new level.

Are you leading?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Everyone who watches any sport would have seen or heard stories about players who wanted to move to a new team/club. Players who didn’t want to be on their team anymore, and wanted to leave. This season, in soccer, it was Dimitar Berbatov.

Berbatov’s is actually a great example, because it really demonstrates my point. Before he was sold to Manchester United, he was a negative influence on the Tottenham team. He didn’t want to be there anymore, and it was clear for all to see. It was damaging for the atmosphere of the team, and ultimately very disruptive.

In the end, even though he was arguably one of their most gifted players, it was better to just let him go. Because forcing him to stay where he didn’t want to be would have been even worse – the discontent could spread more easily, it could cause problems with the atmosphere of the team.

And there’s a great lesson in there. More often than not, it’s not worth it to force people to do something they don’t want to do, even if you can. The effects of having discontented, unmotivated people could be worse than not having people at all. It’s better to have a small, focused, motivated group who love what they’re doing, as compared to a large, unmotivated group that doesn’t want to be there.

Forcing people to do what they don’t want to do doesn’t work anymore (if it ever did).

clipped from skateboard.about.com

The biggest thing is, when you fall, try to NOT use your hands to catch yourself. This might be kind of hard to learn, but if you lose your board and you are going to smash into the ground, you should try and let your shoulder and body take it, rolling with the blow as much as you can. Catching yourself with your hand is a great way to break a wrist, and while wearing wrist guards can protect you from this, it’s dangerous to get used to using your hands, because at some point you will skate without the wrist guards …

Let me repeat that. The biggest thing to remember when falling is NOT to try and catch yourself from falling. If you try too hard to resist it, you’re more likely to get hurt even more badly. Instead, go with it, try to roll into the fall. Let the momentum of the fall take you where it wants to, and just position yourself so that you’ll be able to get up and move on.

I think that’s great advice for all aspects of life, don’t you?

I understand where she’s coming from. And I’ve heard that statement so many times, especially when people ask me about why I quit school. But I don’t agree. The question is, why play it safe? As Seth Godin has said, in today’s world, ‘safe is risky”.

The semi-finals of the World 10-Ball Championship between Niels Feijen and Darren Appleton was a great example. Feijen consistently went for safety shots. Even when he could make the offensive shot, he chose to go down the safe path. And eventually, he lost out.

If you play not to lose, you won’t win. You won’t make the right decisions, and ultimately, you won’t come up on top. As the book “Sway” by Ori and Rom Brafman points out, fear of loss is one of the main reasons behind bad decisions. Kathy Sierra has talked about “death by risk aversion” as well.

If you want to be the best, you have to take risks. And why settle for anything less than the best?

As an Arsenal fan, I’m really disappointed by the result. But I’m not going to make any excuses for the team. They played poorly. They weren’t up to their normal standards. They seemed to underestimate Hull City. They didn’t seem to want it as much as Hull City. And they deserved to lose.

On paper, Arsenal have the better team. Player-for-player, they are better. I don’t think anyone, not even Hull, will dispute that. But on the day, Hull wanted it more, and they were better.

It’s a great lesson in complacency. No matter how good you are, you can’t afford to sit back and expect things to happen for you. It won’t work.

The next question, one that I don’t yet have an answer to, is then this – how do you avoid complacency? How do you keep pushing yourself to give the maximum when you don’t think you’ll need to?

Image via Wikipedia

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Brian Clough‘s passing.

Mr Clough, as he liked to be called, was one of the best managers that England has seen. He brough two different teams up from the Second Division to win the First Division. He won the European Cup twice with Nottingham Forest.

He had very unique methods, and methods that not everyone agreed with. But his success is undeniable, and we can all learn something from him. Here are 3.

For one, he had unshakeable confidence in himself. He’s said things such as “I certainly wouldn’t say I’m the best manager in the business, but I’m in the top one.” He knew he was a good manager, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. He wasn’t just talk, he backed up his talk with his successes, but he wasn’t afraid to speak for himself.

Secondly, he had a firm belief in how the game should be played. When asked what he would do if a player disagreed with his methods, he said, “I’d ask him how he thinks it should be done, have a chat about it for twenty minutes and then decide I was right”. He also famously said that “If God had intended for us to play football in the clouds he wouldn’t have put grass on the ground.” He had very firm beliefs in how things should be done, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. He wouldn’t have been as good a manger without.

Thirdly, he wasn’t afraid to shake things up. When he first took over Derby County, he released 11 players, and kept only 4. He never hesitated to change how things were. And it was something he wasn’t afraid to admit, saying that if he had gotten the chance to manage the England national team, he would have changed it “lock, stock and barrel”.

Confidence in himself, confidence in his belief, and a propensity for change. 3 ingredients that would push anyone towards success, don’t you think?

He blamed his team manager and coach for his loss, saying that they “embarrassed” him.

I, for one, think that it’s a really stupid controversy, and a really stupid thing to be talking about. Gao Ning should have nobody but himself to blame. Yes, it was a mistake and it was unfortunate that he didn’t have a coach. But he’s supposed to be a top-class player, he should have been able to make the step up. After all, he’s the one playing the game, not the coach.

Contrast his story (and reaction) with the story of Taiwanese tennis player Lu Yen-hsun, who made it to the last 16 of the Olympics – beating Andy Murray in the process – also without a coach.

If he could do it, why couldn’t Gao Ning – who’s much more highly regarded in his sport?

At the end of the day, you are the one who’s putting in the performances and doing the task. Sure, it’s always good to have people behind you and supporting you. But when it comes down to it, it’s about you and how well you do.

You’re always going to face controversies. There are times when you’re going to have to go it alone. And that’s the true test – can you step up by yourself?

There are a lot of people questioning Robinho’s move to Manchester City, saying he chose the club for the money. One of the ESPNStar analysts was even saying that Chelsea should be happy that they didn’t get the player, because that isn’t the type of person they would want.

It is undeniable that on the pitch, Robinho is a great player, but the analyst’s point was basically that there is more to the player than that. The club isn’t just getting the player, they are getting the person.

The lessons and thoughts behind this go beyond soccer, though. The same holds true in any company or organization. When you’re hiring somebody, when you’re working with someone, it’s not just about performance. Who the person is is just as important.

It’s not just what a person does (or can do). It’s who he is.