A comment from Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill, yesterday, interested me. He described new signing Ryan Bowman as “all action” - its a comment which particularly chimed with me, having seen Bowman play, perhaps half a dozen times, over the last two seasons.
Without wishing to get into the should we/ shouldn’t we debate around Bowman ( because I’m sure Ryan will answer that himself over the coming season) - I am interested in the concept of “all action” players.
What is an “all action” player- and are they related to a side’s success? It got me thinking. To me the term “all action” refers to constant motion, positive mental attitude, chasing things down, being extremely positive on the ball, never giving up- also there must be an element of leadership - setting an example to other players.
If you could bottle the “all action” mindset and sell in a fizzy concoction I’m sure you’d make a £million.
Argyle have had a few “all action” players over the years - I particularly think of Jamie Macklemore, Kevin’s Hodges, Yann Songo, Paul Wotton, George Foster, Johnny Hore, Andy Morrison. Hasn’t one of Argyles main problems over the last few years not been formation- but too few “all action” players ?
I think it’s even possible to make the case that if an inferior team chock full of “all action” players will beat a technically better opponent. In fact I’ve seen that myself. Slightly giving my age away here, remember watching Wimbledon ( Dennis wise and co) beat Aston Villa 3-2 at plough lane, in one of their first matches back in league 1 ( as it was then) . Out of possession they were all over Villa- like a swarm of wasps. Very impressive. Now that was an “ all action” team.....
Without wishing to get into the should we/ shouldn’t we debate around Bowman ( because I’m sure Ryan will answer that himself over the coming season) - I am interested in the concept of “all action” players.
What is an “all action” player- and are they related to a side’s success? It got me thinking. To me the term “all action” refers to constant motion, positive mental attitude, chasing things down, being extremely positive on the ball, never giving up- also there must be an element of leadership - setting an example to other players.
If you could bottle the “all action” mindset and sell in a fizzy concoction I’m sure you’d make a £million.
Argyle have had a few “all action” players over the years - I particularly think of Jamie Macklemore, Kevin’s Hodges, Yann Songo, Paul Wotton, George Foster, Johnny Hore, Andy Morrison. Hasn’t one of Argyles main problems over the last few years not been formation- but too few “all action” players ?
I think it’s even possible to make the case that if an inferior team chock full of “all action” players will beat a technically better opponent. In fact I’ve seen that myself. Slightly giving my age away here, remember watching Wimbledon ( Dennis wise and co) beat Aston Villa 3-2 at plough lane, in one of their first matches back in league 1 ( as it was then) . Out of possession they were all over Villa- like a swarm of wasps. Very impressive. Now that was an “ all action” team.....
