5 Questions with Kyle O'Reilly

The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.

Here is Kyle O'Reilly:

What is your first memory of football?

My first memory of football was playing on the street against the wall either Wembley (every man for himself vs a keeper) or headers, around the age of 6, my earliest memory of "elite" football would be Euro 96.

What is the biggest misconception/cliche regarding coaching you’ve found in this space?

The biggest myth I think would be "The right way to play" referring to playing out from deep and prolonged periods of possession to "control the game". 

It seems to be a growing fashion and teams are implementing ideas without fully understanding why they're doing it, for me the games about efficiency in getting into the final 3rd and scoring , while stopping your opponent (it sounds simple I know !) So the right way, to me, would be the most efficient way of achieving those objectives, and being able to adapt accordingly in game and in preparation to games.

If you could start over what skill would you build on first?

If I had my time again I'd definitely look after my body better with nutrition, prehab and recovery work, players thankfully are more educated these days, equally I'd study tactical principles at an earlier age, I learned more about the game as a coach than I did from playing, purely from reading and watching videos. 

What three (3) football icons would you want to have a meal with? Why?

Good question, I could probably fill a banquet table! 

My 3 would be:

-Valeriy Lobanovskiy 

-Marcelo Bielsa 

-Sir Alex Ferguson

What is your favorite quote or saying?

My personal favorites are: 

"I'd rather lose trying to win, than lose trying not to lose" or "Fail on your own terms".