Jan Molby interview

Liverpool legend Jan Molby was joined by over 100 potential stars of the future from Templeogue United on Saturday as he passed on some of his vast knowledge during a day’s coaching at the Tallaght Leisure Centre on Saturday morning.

The big Dane, who played more than 200 games in Liverpool’s all conquering team of the 80s, stressed the importance of proper coaching and facilties, and their benefits to clubs and young players starting out in the game.

He said; “The game has changed now from where it was 10, 15, even 20 years ago, everything has improved, from facilities, to coaching standards. The days of a parent coming in to run a team with no knowledge of the game are over, clubs are taking the steps to ensure their coaches have done a course or a badge, and you can see it from the rise in standards.”

Molby worked with kids ranging from 6-16 years old on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised by the standard on offer. He was full of praise for the work that has clearly gone into the coaching of the players; “a huge amount of credit must go to the coaches, because you can see that a lot of effort has gone into these kids.

“The vast majority of the them had a very good understanding of the game, which at such a young age, I believe, is vital. I firmly believe that you’re struggling if you havent grasped the game by the age of 12 or 13. And it’s a fine balance, because there is so much you want to give them as a coach.

“In essence, what it boils down to, is that football is a simple game. Because you create goals, you score goals and you stop the opposition scoring goals. That’s roughly it, there’s no need to over complicate things. On the other side, however, it’s key to entertain the players, because it’s a new breed of youngsters now. Thats why sessions need to be a little fancy, you need to keep them interested and entertained.”

Molby also sees a changing attitude towards young players looking to forge a career from the game. The days of players leaving home at very young ages is ending, and puts it down to the improvements of the game at grass-root level; “There has always been a rush in the British game for young lads to go to acadamies at 7 or 8, but I dont there should be such a rush. The levels of coaching at local clubs has improved so much that I think a player can comfortably stay at home with his club until 16 or 17.

“So many players get left by the wayside still in their teens, and are lost from the game forever. So many players simply aren’t ready at 18 and 19. Only the exceptional one are ready at that age, and i feel sorry for the kids nowadays. When i started playing at the age of five, i just wanted to play football. I never had dreams of being a professional footballer making 100 thousand a week.

“That’s where the game has changed, everybody wants a cut, football is an industry now. In my day, we played a sport, now its a business. Everything has changed, from how you train to how you live and what you earn. Everything...except for the size of the pitches and the laws of the game. There are some things that I envy the players today. Obviously training facilties have improved along with technological advances and diet regimes, but aside from that i don't envy today's players.

“The pressure on players today is huge, they cant walk down the street anymore. Take Liverpool for example, the marquee players, such as Gerrard and Torres must feel the weight of pressure knowing that they’re relied upon to deliver every week. The Liverpool team in the 80s had players like Dalglish, Barnes, Houghton, Whelan Hansen, Rush, Aldridge etc...there was quality throughout that team and you just knew that it wasnt just you that needed to deliver.

“And it affects everyone, from the players, the staff and the fans, because footballs such big business now. The fans still love the game, but i can see them slowly falling out of love with the players. Players showing up in 200 thousand pound cars, and you hear them saying certain things and doing certain things. The loyalty has gone, and the players have to be careful.

“Not so long ago, you hear the stories of Ashley Cole nearly crashing his car over an extra few grand a week and players fishing for a big money move, you just cant do that and not expect the fans to become disillusioned. But football fans are a great breed. Someone only said to me this morning, ‘It’s still a great game to watch’, but believe me its ten times better to play. And thats not just at the level I played at, its at every level, from kids, to amateur football, to the very top.”

Molby alludes to his time in the great “Danish Dynamite” team of the 80s as another example of how the game has changed. He remembers that period fondly saying he “wouldn't change that for the world, we played some magic football. I was lucky in my career that i went from playing total football with Ajax, total football with Denmark, and then I was part of such a great Liverpool team.

"And it was a case of a bunch of great players put together and told to go and play, we barely needed any coaching. Because we all got on so well to, we trusted each other, you couldnt make it up! Which is something that changed towards the end of my Liverpool career...all of a sudden teammates werent getting on, and i had never had that at any stage of my career, we always got on like a house on fire. But then you had the “Spice Boys” and the "Older Boys" and all of a sudden we had a group of players who didn't get on like they used to, and success dried up.”

At Liverpool, Molby played with a number of Irish legends and was gushing in his praise for the likes of Aldridge, Houghton and Ronnie Whelan in particular: “They were great players. John Aldridge, as a goalscorer was unbelievable. I was also a great Ray Houghton fan, he was let go far too early from Liverpool, but possibly out of the Irish players I played with, Ronnie Whelan was consistently the best.

“Ronnie was a great, great player, he could play anywhere. It was so natural and easy for him. I actually asked Kenny (Dalglish) not too long ago what might have happened to Ronnie if I had not broken my foot. Because we had Houghton on the right, Barnes on the left, and Steve McMahon and I were certain starters in the middle, Ronnie only really got his chance because of my injury. All Kenny could reply was; “You’ll never know.”

“After that, because Ronnie was so good, it was nearly two years by the time I got back into the team, and I had to change positions, cbecause of Ronnie I ended up playing over 100 games at centre-half for Liverpool.”