I don’t doubt that he may have a bad work ethic in practice, but he should be judged on the product he produces in matches. There are lots of sports figures that are “gamers” and raise their level in the moment of competition while not being able, or not willing to, during practice. It’s the old adage of leaving it on the field rather than leaving it all in practice. I have a feeling TMac is an amazing player during practice and pushes himself to his limits, but he either can not replicate it during matches or he’s tapped-out come game time. Or maybe he looks great in practice because he give 100% and other give 80-90 (to pace themselves) and he then looks better. IDK???
Whatever the case is, part of being a good Manager is knowing how to get the most out of a player based on who the player is. Mold the approach to what gets through to them for them to understand what being asked, rather than trying to mold the player to a fixed team mindset.
This is the same in any industry. Very talented individuals have quirky habits that give them comfort when performing tasks. Try to change it, or force rigidity onto them with methods, and the risk is run of limiting their creativity or performance. That’s not to say there can’t be an outline of standards to be met, but deviation within should be allowed and encouraged.
Lewis’ stats are telling:
He started 4 matches and the team won all 4.
He subbed on in 8 matches with 3W 3T 2L (one loss was the Toronto thrashing.
He’s not a gamer like Jordan, but he’s definitely a gamer and the number of wins he was involved in show not only that he gelled with the rest of the team, but he made an impact.
