Matt Wells, in his own words, was tired of feeling “powerless”.
As an assistant coach with Tottenham, Fulham, and Club Brugge, Wells would sit on the sidelines and notice worrying trends bubbling in games that looked destined to result in a concession. He wanted to take matters into his own hands. But in a sport with only one true break played in front of thousands of spectators, finding ways to pass instructions along to players is no easy task. Even the loudest voice can’t consistently be heard above a myriad of others.
“I had many moments like that as an assistant where you don’t intervene and you end up conceding,” Wells told Backheeled. “Then afterwards, I, for want of a better phrase, I f—ing knew we were going to concede. I knew it. So what can I come up with? When I’m a head coach, what can I do? I don’t want to experience those moments where I had all the knowledge, but there was just a communication issue. I couldn’t get that across onto the pitch in time.”
Wells’ solution upon heading to the Colorado Rapids in MLS to take his first head coaching job? NFL-style play calling, at least on goal kicks.
The 37-year-old has developed a set of signals on “certain goal kicks that if I then call them from the sideline, that overrides anything”. When the Rapids are about to restart play from their own box, their goalkeeper is tasked with quickly glancing over at Wells before action resumes.
“If I’m just watching the game, crack on as normal. But if I’m giving a specific signal from the sideline, that trumps everything and we commit to that signal,” Wells explained. “How I’ve explained it to the guys is, ‘Lads, no offense, but my super-strength is the feeling of the game. I can feel it better than you guys. I know the solution better than you guys.’”
