Superstition dictates that if I don't score soon I'm binning my boots, say Tommy Mooney

Champions League / Tommy Mooney / 29 October 2008 / 1 Comments

Marbella's no-nonsense forward Tommy Mooney on a barren spell, the "Four Captains", how John Gorman's book will be essential reading in the Mooney household and why Diego Forlan has come good in Spain.

I met John Gorman last week for lunch out here. He was my old manager at Wycombe Wanderers and we got on really well. He's working with Glenn Hoddle out in Jerez at their soccer academy right now.

You might well know his story, as it was quite well-publicised in terms of what he was going through on a personal level. He's just launching his autobiography right now and is going round his old clubs to enlist their help.

I'm not a great reader of books but I certainly made a point of reading this. There were quite a few Wycombe references - we went through an awful lot there and it really evoked some memories and emotions from that time. Just how he coped is remarkable. 'John Gory Gorman' it's called and I recommend it.

In more general terms, it's a big help to me leafing through the Spanish newspapers and simply reading stuff. It's like when you're at school, the first discipline is to be able to read and pronounce words and sentences without initially understanding what you're saying.

Back to matters at Marbella and one thing I haven't covered to this point is the fact we have four captains at the club. I've found out that this isn't unusual in Spain. They act as sort of a committee and discuss any issues that arise and also represent the players to a club president, rather than going through the manager as is more traditional in England.

That's why I think the term 'coach' is used out here because genuinely I don't believe many of the coaches of Spanish sides would have much of an idea of the detail of a player's contract, for example.

At Marbella, we've got the team captain, Carlos Riveira, the longest-serving player, Dani, the goalkeeper, Avila, and a centre-half, Arias. They're known as the Four Captains and that's a player's first port of call. You'd speak to one of them and they'd discuss it between all of them.
As for me personally, I'm going through a bit of a barren spell, goals-wise, and that means my boots are in danger of being binned. I'm a bit superstitious, as I've admitted before, and I've always thrown my boots away if I've ever gone five games without scoring.

I've been with Adidas for five years - using my maxim of 'Owt for Nowt' of course - but the club are sponsored by Nike so I've gone with them now. I've already changed a few pairs of boots this year so a goal would be good or they'll think I don't like wearing them for some reason!

I'm looking forward to watching Atletico Madrid at home to Real Mallorca this Saturday, so therefore Diego Forlan's name comes into focus.

After a torrid time at Man United he's back in Spain scoring goals - and plenty of them. For me it proves he was a player simply not suited to the English style as well as, I'll concede, perhaps without the tools in his game to make the necessary amendments to his game.

In Spain, we have a role called a 'diranterro'. He's seen as an attacking play-maker who stays in the final third of the field. It's a great way of understanding how Forlan has learned his trade. This role never requires aerial ability or physical presence because the ball is always fed into feet in and around the opposition penalty box.

The ball rarely goes from the defensive third straight to the attacking third over here. It reminds me of making pointless channel runs out here earlier this season. You simply don't get the ball that way.

He's not the first player to fail in England and prosper in Spain. They're more football players than the striker's role we're familiar with in England. The sort of players that shy away from physical contact and go over holding their ankle when the wind blows but, in the right set-up, they can have a devastating impact on a match.

That's why Forlan does so well, because he's suited to the way Atletico want to play. It's easy to mock someone when you don't understand how he operates. But it's more interesting to find out why the performance of a player has varied so much between England and elsewhere.
Atletico and Mallorca have both made solid starts. So with Madrid's 4-4 against Forlan's old club, Villareal, in mind, I'm going for Over 2.5 goals at [1.72] - not always that common an occurrence out here.

Having talked about him, we've got to say he's going to score. So have a go on Forlan as First Goalscorer with odds of roughly [7.0].

I think the home team will be too strong so also back a two-goal margin of victory. That will be about [5.5].

Comments (1)

1. Steve Brister | 30 October 2008

   Tommy

   Hope things are going well for you. We will be in Spain next week and planning on taking in the Marbella v Granada match so if it could be arranged that would be a good time to get your first goal for Marbella!!
   Good luck and thanks for all the good times at Watford
   Best regards
   Steve & Jackie (norfolk hornets)