What can a coach do?
(1) improve player fundamentals?
--nonsense.... If you actually futzed with these players's fundamentals in this short period of time--even perhaps making adjustments that are good in the long haul--the likely result now would more likely be lower performance than higher performance.
(2) increase motivation?
--more nonsense....These guys have made the equivalent of the olympic team in this sport. They are preparing for the most watched and celebrated pool event there is. I really get a kick out of people talking about getting players to "want to win" more.
So what is left for coach to do?
There are two things, imo. Two things that at first glance look different but in reality are probably coupled together.
(1) Get players to LOOK LIKE a team. Whatever the results are, look like a team getting those results. This is at first glance more about us, the fans, than it is about the players or the play. Develop some protocol about how players interact during the match and outside the match that fit this theme. Go four-wheeling together. Show some mentorship moments between veterans and newer players. Show some outward signs of support. Keep heads up. Show you care for each other....
(2) Get players to BE a team. This one is harder but has more potential to affect actual performance. Studies cited from Scientific American to the Wall Street Journal show that when people dress better, they actually perform better--all else being equal. I suspect some of that sort of thing carries over here as well--when players ACT LIKE a team, some of the superficial stuff probably rubs off into BEING a team.
The main issue is not somehow making sure only good things happen but rather managing how players react to bad things happening.
Here is something the coach needs to get the players to understand. If we were to clone the universe right now--make 10,000 copies--and let this year's exact matchup play out 10,000 times, we would get many different results. EUR would win thousands of times and USA would win thousands of times. Who knows what the proportion is--doesn't matter. The key point is that for every single player, we can point to a universe where he played flawlessly, was the star of the show, and came through when it mattered most. We can also find a universe where that same player sucked it up badly--missed the straightforward opportunities, and just couldn't get it going. The players need to understand all these universes are out there, and we just don't know which one we're in. And they need to develop ways to deal with and cope with adversity BEFORE knowing who it affects and how.
This is a social contract of sorts, and I think it is best approached with this "veil of ignorance" idea--you don't know which universe you're in, but you know in some of them you're the big kid on the playground and in others you're the little kid. You have this ignorance when making rules of behavior for interacting on the playground... Locke, Hobbes, Jefferson, Rawls... lots of people have thought like this...
When a teammate pats you on the shoulder after a bad shot and says (either in words, facial expression, or just the pat itself) "that's OK buddy--shrug it off," that teammate needs to MEAN IT and you need to believe he means it.
Getting there is harder than it looks. When players drift off to sleep at night now, they probably dream of their team winning and perhaps being recognized as a key contributor. They also probably have the dark thoughts about performing badly and fans saying they were a bad choice for the team and so forth. What you want to avoid is players feeling, "OK we might lose, but please don't let ME be the one they're pointing to..." It is hard for the pat on the shoulder to be truly sincere if this is where the patter's head is at.
Getting this pat on the back to be sincere and getting the recipient to believe it is sincere IS the primary job of the coach. It's hard but it can be done. Building this is what a coach can do.
