Small Group Team Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Small Group Team - Essay Example A team that has historically been known for its slick passing game, Arsenal, an English football club based in London have recently come under a lot of scrutiny for underperforming, for which miscommunication amongst the players has been cited as a major issue. Having seen a season where they remained unbeatable and were crowned the champion of English football in 2003/2004, Arsenal has been devoid of any silverware in English football since 2005. The period following their epoch of glory has been marked by established players leaving the club and new faces coming in. This reshuffling has resulted in a lag in performance as it has taken time for the new players to settle in. On the 26th of February Arsenal’s match against Tottenham Hotspurs provided some interesting insight on the team’s communication dynamics. Even though Arsenal won the game 5-2, a number of gaps were evident in the team dynamics that the squad needs to work on. .   Arsenal’s performance in r ecent times has been marred by a lack of leadership, especially after a number of star performers had left. This lack of a figurehead has been clinical in Arsenal’s poor performance this season. ... Before their match with Tottenham, the team was seen warming up on the ground. A particular pattern was noticeable, about half of the team was warming up around the captain in the form of a circle and all of them were facing him. Even though this practice was individual in nature as every player was warming up on his own yet their positions unintentionally reaffirmed their faith in their captain. This was followed by the captain dispatching instructions and sharing a strategy with all the players. Interestingly, the captain had 2 or 3 senior players standing by his side while having the pre-match team talk with the younger players. When the match started Arsenal conceded two quick goals, both of them caused by defensive lapses. After the first goal one of the senior defenders was seen talking loudly to one of the younger players, while the goal keeper looked at his defenders frustratingly with his hands on his back. This behavior was noticeable especially among the senior-to-junior p layer interaction and continued till Arsenal leveled the scores and the team got a necessary morale boost. The captain’s behavior during all of this offers a different perspective, he was seen patting the head of the young player as a sign of encouragement and constantly trying to lift the team spirit up by chanting cheers. As a positive, the players were seen lauding each other after a good tackle was made or a close shot on goal was attempted. It is important to understand that football being a team game requires equal amounts of effort and commitment from each player. A weak link can cause the whole team’s efforts to go in vain. This is perhaps why some of the more experienced players are seen castigating some of the more ambitious young players