With Edberg more than willing to coach Roger, he should seriously consider this in my opinion. Not that he is going to teach anything to Roger who is a Master by himself. What Edberg can do is to restore the confidence of Roger in his faltering game and make him realize that he is still a Champion who can create that magic on court. With Andy having Lendl, Novak hiring Becker, Roger can follow their lead too. That only leaves Rafa who is always comfortable with his Uncle more than anybody else.

December 19th, 2013 at 10:07 am

IMHO Fed would be crazy not to take up this possible opportunity. Edberg is the absolute ideal person who he could hire as a Coach. He would be the natural candidate for Fed at this stage in his career just like Lendl was for Muzza.

I think- like many- Fed needs to adopt a more aggressive game that sees him taking greater risks going forward to the net as opposed to dueling out in baseline rallies with players.

He’s 32. He ain’t going to better Rafa, Nole and Muzza from there. And he knows that. For him the best tactic would be to utilize his natural talent at the net even more, which will suit Fed’s aggressive instincts and minimize the physically sapping baseline rallies with the younger players that he finds himself in.

It will be a big risk strategy. But there are possible big rewards in store.

Edberg would easily be the best individual who could help him in this regard. And it does not hurt that Stefan commands a real respect from Fed seeing as he is his childhood hero.

I think Fed should pursue him on this possible coaching offer.

December 19th, 2013 at 11:13 am

SI.com…before they shut down the comments (their words), for the end of seaso.

Roger Federer is ranked No. 6. Does he finish 2014 ranked higher or lower?
— Anonymous

• Good question. Is it me, or is assessing Federer turning into an internal cage fight, pitting our hearts versus heads? We all know of Federer’s sorcery and native talent and celestial carriage on the court. His work ethic is beyond reproach. In terms of karma and cosmic forces, he deserves more success. Yet, the trend lines paint a clear picture. The stock analogy: “If you saw a company with this profile, would you invest?”

The ranking is a bit of an artificial benchmark. I think the real question is: Can Federer summon his past with sufficient frequency?

Here’s one element of this discussion that I don’t grasp. Athletes have always drawn motivation from tension, friction and slights, real and imagined. Federer seems particularly drawn to disproving the clueless cynics in “the media.”

To which I say: Who are “the media” so hellbent on chronicling Federer’s decline? I’ve seen nothing other than support, measured optimism and calls for perspective. Twitter trolls notwithstanding, who among us isn’t secretly pulling for Federer?

The incentives and motivations vary. In many cases, it’s just visceral. You want good things to happen to good people, the sport to do right by someone who has done right by the sport. In some cases, it’s more cosmic. Here’s a towering presence and relentless force; why would you want to usher him off stage?

In some cases, there’s probably a financial calculus. If Roger Federer is no longer an active player, the Swiss sports TV station or the Geneva Gazette might need to reallocate resources. Trust me, if the media were scripting this, Federer would ride high for as long as he wanted.

NGUYEN: Federer will have lots to prove at start of 2014 campaign

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/20131218/roger-federer-2014-mailbag/#ixzz2nwQCYcre

December 19th, 2013 at 12:08 pm

Would be ironic if this plays out.

Edberg-Becker had no bad blood. Federer-Djokovic did.
Edberg-Lendl had no bad blood. Federer-Murray did (do?).
Becker-Lendl had bad blood. Djokovic-Murray do not.

December 19th, 2013 at 12:36 pm

I agree with Edberg. I wouldn’t mind being Federer’s coach either.

December 19th, 2013 at 12:51 pm

Federer has had most of his success in his career without a coach. He certainly has not forgotten how to play tennis and does not need a coach now. No coach can tell Federer something he doesn’t already know or hasn’t already tried. Fact is that he is a little bit slower and a little less powerful than when he was younger (too many miles on those legs), not to mention back ailments which I suspect he plays with more often than he lets the press know. If anyone has watched his game carefully enough, its easy to see when he’s playing with some physical problem. Fed has always been the only player intelligent enough and capable of altering his game to defeat different opponents. He just needs to rely on his natural instinct to attack more and finish points at the net more, and that is bread and butter for him. He’s just lost some confidence I think because when you can’t trust your body to go through 2 weeks of play at slams anyone will be affected mentally. Once he wins more , he will be on a streak again, collect a few more trophies and then say goodbye. That’s how I see it playing out for him in 2014. Good luck to the best player ever. He deserves to go out with a bang!

December 19th, 2013 at 3:12 pm

I agree with Edberg. I wouldn’t mind being Federer’s coach either.
—
At this point anyone can be the Arrogant One’s coach. The results will be the same.

December 19th, 2013 at 3:20 pm

Maybe Fed should have a team of coaches like Nole.

I wonder if Moet and Chandon might be available?

December 19th, 2013 at 3:47 pm

I’m surprised there aren’t more comments on this particular board on this … rather interesting development.

*waits patiently*

December 19th, 2013 at 5:03 pm

Rafa becomes Feds Coach.

Rafa asks Fed “how can I help?”
“Show me how to beat Rafa.”
Rafa says, “always difficult and nearly impossible, this is the true. but were gonna see no? “

December 19th, 2013 at 5:27 pm

Cute, Skeezer^^^………..you do have a sense of humor…….and that’s refreshing!!

December 19th, 2013 at 6:33 pm

I hope this does happen. I think taking some risks right now might be just what fed needs to get back to a major win.
Also he posted a good training video on his facebook. surely, he’s been working that hard long before facebook was around, but you can tell he really wants to make something happen this year.
Go Rog

December 19th, 2013 at 10:21 pm

dari,
saw that. It was a some great drilling and was specific on movement, which was good. We’ll, see no?

Allez Fed!

December 19th, 2013 at 11:07 pm

M Says:
I’m surprised there aren’t more comments on this particular board on this … rather interesting development.

*waits patiently*

————————-

There really isn’t anything controversial here. It’s the kind of guy you’d expect someone like Federer to pick. If he’d be looking at JMac, I suspect that there would be an onslaught of comments. Edberg is such a humble and unassuming guy that there just isn’t anywhere to go with this thread.

December 20th, 2013 at 12:30 pm

Edberg was, even more than Sampras who I greatly admire, the consummate sportsman. Edberg was, is and always will be, all class.

December 20th, 2013 at 12:32 pm

@dari –

Might you have a link to the vid on Roger’s FB page?

December 20th, 2013 at 8:46 pm