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On June 20, 2010, a team bus pulls up at a training ground in Knysna, South Africa. The French national team gets off – and doesn’t train. A little later, the players are back on the bus with the curtains drawn. Outside, the coach stands in front of the cameras and reads out a statement his players have written against a decision by their own federation. Two days later, France finishes last in its group with one point and one goal. An example of the Team Principle of the Bad Apple.
Halftime in Polokwane
Situation
France is in Group A. The coach is Raymond Domenech, the captain Patrice Evra. The team is based at the five-star Pezula hotel in Knysna. On June 11, the opening match in Cape Town ends 0–0 against Uruguay. On June 17, the team loses 2–0 to Mexico in Polokwane. At halftime, striker Nicolas Anelka hurls abuse at the coach. Anelka is expelled from the squad and sent home. Very few players – fewer than a dozen – have ever been expelled during a World Cup.
Connection to the team principle
The Team Principle of the Bad Apple states: a single destructive attitude drags the whole team down if no one confronts it. At first glance, the behavior was confronted here – and hard: the player had to go. But expelling someone is not the same as leading. It removes one person. It does not clear up what is going on in the locker room, and it does not bring the others back on board. What happened next shows the difference.
The Bus With the Curtains Drawn
Situation
Three days after the match, the team turns up for training and refuses to take part. Beforehand, captain Evra and fitness coach Robert Duverne clash on the field. Duverne storms off and throws away his accreditation. The players retreat to the bus. Team director Jean-Louis Valentin resigns on the spot, calling the behavior unacceptable. Evra speaks publicly of a “traitor” in the squad who had leaked internal matters.
Connection to the team principle
The behavior of one individual has become the behavior of all. The team does not rally behind the coach who was insulted but behind the player who was sent away. The captain, who ought to stand between the team and the management, leads the protest. And instead of looking at its own part, the group hunts for the traitor. This is a typical sign: an infected team turns its energy inward – against whoever brought something into the open.
A Coach Reads Out His Players’ Statement
Situation
Domenech himself reads the players’ statement to the press – even though Anelka’s tirade had been directed at him.
Connection to the team principle
This image sums up the second half of the principle: “if no one confronts it.” The man whose job it would be to stand up to the behavior becomes its spokesman. Here it is worth looking at the research. In their 2006 review, Will Felps, Terence R. Mitchell and Eliza Byington describe how a group can counter destructive behavior only if it has the power to do so. In Knysna, by the end, no one had that power anymore: the coach didn’t have it, the captain didn’t use it, and the team director resigned.
Who Was the Bad Apple?
Situation
On June 22, France loses 2–1 to South Africa. Florent Malouda scores France’s only goal of the tournament. On August 18, 2010, the French federation’s disciplinary committee, chaired by Jean Mazzella, hands down its rulings: an 18-match international ban for Anelka, five matches for Evra, three for Franck Ribéry and one for Jérémy Toulalan. Éric Abidal goes unpunished. Mazzella explains that Anelka’s ban is meant to set an example. Up to that point, Anelka had played 69 matches for France.
Connection to the team principle
The penalties spread the responsibility across several shoulders, and that captures the matter better than any simple story. Was it the striker with the outburst? The ringleaders of the strike? A coach whose relationship with the team had long been strained? This article does not settle that question. The honest lesson is a different one: a single outburst is enough to spark a revolt only if the team has already lost its footing. If you look only for the apple, you overlook the state of the barrel.
Key takeaways
Key Lessons
- Don’t confuse expulsion with leadership. If someone has to go, your real work with everyone else starts that same day.
- Before a crisis hits, find out where your informal captain stands. If the most influential person on the team leads the protest, you don’t have a discipline problem; you have a trust problem.
- Don’t let yourself be made the spokesperson for behavior you don’t stand behind. Mediating is not the same as reading out a statement.
- Be on your guard when your team starts looking for the “traitor.” At that point it is no longer about the issue but about blame.
- With every incident, also ask about the environment: What made this behavior possible on our team?
Summary
In Polokwane, a player hurls abuse at the coach and is sent home. Three days later in Knysna, the whole team goes on strike, led by the captain, and the coach reads out their statement. France is eliminated in last place in its group. The case shows the Team Principle of the Bad Apple at its harshest: removing the one person is not enough. If no one confronts the behavior with authority and through dialogue, the team adopts it.