Neils Feijen (The Terminator) announced as Team Europe captain

The Niels choice is a very solid one. The BCA Hall of Famer has had a career lasting nearly 30 years and is a legendary figure of European Pool. He is a World 9ball Champion, a World 14.1 Champion and has countless Euro-tour titles. He has played on Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup many, many times and is a multiple-time Mosconi MVP. In addition, Niels always conducts himself admirably in the arena.

In the late 1990's, at American events, the only five Europeans you saw more than occasionally were Oliver Ortmann, Ralf Souquet, Alex Lely, Niels Feijen, and Marcus Chamat. By end of 2026, four of them will have been either a Mosconi Cup or Reyes Cup coach. Makes sense.
 
Flakeandrun said:
It’s just better. Non-playing captains is ridiculous.


Lame.
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While Niels is still in shape and had recently pretty good results in major events and could actually play well in the Mosconi, I don't think that Johan Ruijsink can do it. So that would make Europe even stronger.

The captain is there for mostly moral and psychological help, he can't really teach these guys how to play, although in the case of Johan Ruijsink, he can do that also.
 
Congrats to Niels. His drills on YouTube are amazing and he's a great player.

However, I think the captaincy chair for Team Europe could be empty and they would still win.
 
You have the "best" players playing for a team, do you even need a captain? It is not like basketball where you have 5 players on the field with several more on rotation, it is either singles or doubles matches, which in turn provides 3-4 players not playing and can actually coach the players
 
fish2 said:
You have the "best" players playing for a team, do you even need a captain? It is not like basketball where you have 5 players on the field with several more on rotation, it is either singles or doubles matches, which in turn provides 3-4 players not playing and can actually coach the players
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At the very least you need someone to pick who is playing.

Europe haven't had the same team each year either so do think its important to have someone take responsibility for making sure they meet up in advance and bond properly.

Also think the fact everyone just expects Europe to win it actually adds a lot of pressure to the team, especially new players. Europe have won 6 in a row, I'm sure every debutant and Neils must have it on the back of their mind they don't want to be the change to the team that was responsible for that run ending.
 
I think the U.S. suffered greatly the past two years with Woodward as captain. Europe, not so much. Shaw is a natural captain-type personality.

Leadership is required in just about everything in life imo. Even as kids playing, some of us were always leading and organizing. Humans need directing and direction.

As Niels said, a captain isn't needed to teach players how to play. They all know how to make the shots.

A captain's job, in the Mosconi at least, is to help individual players in an individual sport jell as a team. Niels said his goal is to make sure the players are mentally aware and mentally sharp.

A captain will also make lineups and pairings, eliminating any potential conflict among players roughly equal in talent.
 
fish2 said:
You have the "best" players playing for a team, do you even need a captain? It is not like basketball where you have 5 players on the field with several more on rotation, it is either singles or doubles matches, which in turn provides 3-4 players not playing and can actually coach the players
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The team captains select player rotations. This helps by taking some pressure off of the players. This is one of several reasons for not having playing captains.
 
Bob Jewett said:
I believe that Johan is going to spend a week with each member individually for intense practice.
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At the MC it's all about your mental make up.
jbart65 said:
I think the U.S. suffered greatly the past two years with Woodward as captain. Europe, not so much. Shaw is a natural captain-type personality.

Leadership is required in just about everything in life imo. Even as kids playing, some of us were always leading and organizing. Humans need directing and direction.

As Niels said, a captain isn't needed to teach players how to play. They all know how to make the shots.

A captain's job, in the Mosconi at least, is to help individual players in an individual sport jell as a team. Niels said his goal is to make sure the players are mentally aware and mentally sharp.

A captain will also make lineups and pairings, eliminating any potential conflict among players roughly equal in talent.
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At the MC it's all about the mentality. Some guys handle the pressure well and some don't. We've all seen even champion players struggle here.
 
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