Thursday 3 August 2017

Why results of pre-season tours are not to be worried for?

Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea - The champion clubs of their respective leagues did not fare well in the pre-season tour.


Real Madrid Spain ICC International Champions Cup Chelsea FC Bayern Munich Audi Cup Asia tour Singapore


The squad they boast doesn't comply with the results that they have produced in these games, they have spent money to bring in new players, some established players have left the team but overall the team's balance is maintained.


Despite having quality players, the teams have not been able to perform that well as expected by their fan bases. This resulted in frustration for some of them who did not think twice before bashing their players, managers and their decisions. They forgot that it's the same players, same manager who guided his team to glory in the previous season.

FC Bayern Munich vs SSC Napoli 0-2 loss Audi Cup bayern Munich arsenal inter Napoli milan
FC Bayern posing for the shutterbugs before the match


Several fan pages on social media posted their opinions, some were easy on the teams while some went all out in criticising the players, managers and even board.

But do these results really matter ?



We should not forget the fact that teams who lost these friendlies are the ones who go all the way in their domestic competitions and also in the UEFA Champions League.

For example - Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are the champions of their respective leagues. They are champions because of the belief they had in themselves, the support they had from their fans and the performance their players gave on the pitch.

Chelsea FC vs Inter 3-2 loss Inter Milan Chelsea North London Italy Audi Cup Singapore Asia tour Pre-season friendly
Chelsea FC posing for the cameras before the match


These teams won just a single game in their pre-season friendlies, but it should not blemish their achievements from the last season. 

Pre-season tour is just an opportunity to try new things, a manager experiments by taking some out of the box decisions, some work in favor, some do not. 

It's a game which someone has to lose and another has to win. These results does not show any reality or it does not say the teams will be performing at the same level in the regular season like they did in friendlies.

Some people may argue that other teams which won also experimented, so why didn't they lose. It's not about winning or losing in friendlies, it's about experimenting things so that when in regular season if something wrong happens unfortunately, like any injury, the managers will be able to implement one of these ideas they tried in friendlies, so that the team and it's season doesn't suffer.

Mateo Kovacic scored a goal in El Clasico Miami Florida Hard Rock Stadium Real Madrid Barcelona Spain ICC International Champions Cup
Mateo Kovacic in action against FC Barcelona in Miami


So a fan must understand the fact and always be a support to their team. There's nothing wrong in voicing your opinion regarding the team and it's performance but that does not mean they should believe, the performance should be of same level in the regular season as well.

This is my personal opinion regarding the pre-season tour. If you have any different ideas do post in comments.

Read some more of my blogs and comment if you like them.

Picture credits - Official Facebook pages of the teams 

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