The Technician N°46•E:Anglais 15.4.2010 16:11 Page 1 Editorial: Overnight Success Football Philosophers Organising the Back Room Learning to Read National Team Football: An Identity Parade? NEWSLETTER FOR COACHES N O 46 MAY 2010 The Technician N°46•E:Anglais 15.4.2010 16:11 Page 2 IMPRESSUM EDITORIAL GROUP Andy Roxburgh Graham Turner PRODUCTION André Vieli Dominique Maurer Atema Communication SA Printed by Artgraphic Cavin SA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hélène Fors COVER With the World Cup finals kicking off in South Africa on 11 June, Marcello Lippi and his Italian side are gearing up to defend the title they won in Germany in 2006. (Photo: Getty Images) Under Pep Guardiola, FC Barcelona swept the board last season. Empics Sport 2 The Technician N°46•E:Anglais 15.4.2010 16:11 Page 3 OVERNIGHT SUCCESS EDITORIAL in the much lauded ‘Barça dream tain. The paths of José and Pep did team’. In an illustrious playing career, cross for a period at FC Barcelona dur- BY ANDY ROXBURGH, the thoughtful midfielder won La Liga ing the latter part of the 1990s. But UEFA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR six times, the European Cup Winners’ their football backgrounds and training Cup, the UEFA Champions League and were certainly not the same. Message1: an Olympic gold medal with Spain in Coach education is about dealing with Barcelona in 1992. During the period individuals and getting the best out of between then and 2001, when he them. It is not about mass production In 1988, Gladys Knight, the ‘Empress also gained 47 international caps, he and rote learning. Coaches develop of Soul’, sang the words “overnight suc- learned from three of Europe’s top club through a combination of work experi- cess, stars are on the rise”. She wasn’t coaches: Johan Cruyff, Bobby Robson ence, the help of mentors, managing referring to José Mourinho or Pep and Louis van Gaal. After a season of lower-level teams, personal study and Guardiola. At the time, the former was successfully coaching Barça’s B team, a life immersed in the game, as well a young student on a coaching course the young man who, apart from a few as structured coaching programmes. in Scotland, while the latter was a years abroad, had been immersed in Message 2: The latter may be only part 17-year-old member of the FC Barce- the Catalan club’s culture for more than of the equation. But well-designed, lona youth academy – a product two decades, took over as manager reality-based courses with individual of La Masía. But maybe the singer’s of the FC Barcelona first team. He pro- tuition can help aspiring technicians words were, unknowingly, a prediction ceeded to win absolutely everything to improve their coaching competence of glories to come. during 2009 – his first calendar year in and to find their style of leadership. charge: the Spanish league, cup and From an early age, José Mourinho super cup, together with UEFA’s Cham- Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho studied football. Indeed, he once said pions League and Super Cup titles. travelled a long way to become “my training as a coach was fully The FIFA Club World Cup then provided overnight successes. José summed it comprehensive”. He was referring to a the icing on the cake and confirmation up when he said “there’s a history number of important elements in his that Pep Guardiola was the ultimate made up by each of us that leads us to development. For example, he came overnight success, albeit that his edu- that final victory. It’s that history, in its from a football family – his father being cation in leading Barcelona, as captain entirety, that turns us into champions.” a professional player and coach. He and as coach, had started back in In her soulful voice, Gladys Knight was trained in physical education and 1984, when he had joined the club echoed the same sentiments when football coaching; he had fantastic work as a skinny young boy. she sang “overnight success, I know it experience at Sporting Clube, FC Porto doesn’t happen overnight”. The road to and FC Barcelona (where Bobby Rob- From the perspective of coach educa- coaching stardom takes years of dedi- son and Louis van Gaal were his men- tion, what do these two success stories cation, experience and learning. Some tors) before dipping his toes deeper tell us? Firstly, that there are different talented coaches, such as José and into the turbulent waters of coaching routes to the top of the coaching moun- Pep, simply sparkle earlier than others. at SL Benfica and UD Leiria. At 39 years old, backed by a mine of footballing know-how and expertise in coaching methodology, he took over at FC Porto. In his first two seasons in charge of ‘The Dragons’, he won the Portuguese Liga twice, the domestic cup, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. He was an overnight success, but it was like a roof appearing on a house that had taken years to build. Pep Guardiola, who joined FC Barcelona as a 13-year-old and first experienced nights of European football as a ball- boy at the Camp Nou, was spotted by Johan Cruyff in the youth team and Images Tsarev/Epsilon/Getty quickly became the midfield fulcrum José Mourinho during a training session with Inter Milan 3 The Technician N°46•E:Anglais 15.4.2010 16:11 Page 4 ARSÈNE WENGER WITH ANDY ROXBURGH AND GÉRARD HOULLIER AT A UEFA COACHING FORUM UEFA-Woods FOR OVER A DECADE UEFA HAS HAD THE SUPPORT OF MANY ILLUSTRIOUS COACHES. THEY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE TECHNICIAN (SINCE 1997), THE TECHNICAL REPORTS AND THE ELITE CLUB COACHES FORUM (SINCE 1999) WITH COMMENTS, INTERVIEWS AND IDEAS. THIS SPECIAL FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS SOME OF THE ‘WORDS OF WISDOM’ OFFERED TO US BY TOP-LEVEL COACHING COLLEAGUES, ALONG WITH THE TECHNICIAN’S RESPONSE TO THEM. THE ALMOST RANDOM SELECTION FEATURES SOME OF THE MEN OF CREATIVE THOUGHTS AND SUCCESSFUL ACTIONS WHO ARE AMONG OUR FOOTBALL PHILOSOPHERS First to the microphone is: is often graphically verified by TV pictures but also underlines the tech- Arsène Wenger nician’s need to watch his body (finalist in the UEFA Champions League, language and to transmit positive European Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA messages to players, directors and Cup, and winner of leagues, cups and the public via the media. super cups in France, Japan and England) “You must love the game and Sir Alex Ferguson want to share with the players (league, cup and Cup Winners’ Cup a certain way of life, a way champion with Aberdeen FC and of seeing football.“ winner of just about everything since Technician: This wonderful sentence taking over at Manchester United provokes all sorts of reflections on the in November 1986, including two degree of dedication which needs to go UEFA Champions League titles) with the love of the game, the sacrifices “Playing wing backs, while that the technician is required to make, using three central defenders, the importance of having a clear vision represents a far less aggressive of the sort of football you want your attacking philosophy than team to play, and the management and operation with wingers.“ leadership qualities which will allow the Technician: The sentence illustrates technician to implement that vision. how Sir Alex has built teams which What’s more, the ‘sharing’ aspect neatly reflect a club credo of playing attractive highlights the need to transmit your attack-minded football based not only vision, your footballing lifestyle, to the on wingers but also on overlapping players and the ‘team behind the team’. runs by adventurous full-backs. But Arsène is one of the game’s most stim- this is more than a structural approach. ulating philosophers – constantly offer- It represents a philosophy which re- ing comments which provoke profound sponds to the wishes of the supporters reflection. Talking of reflections, his and to the passion for football which Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images observation “the coach’s face is a has traditionally underpinned the club. Sir Alex Ferguson sends his team mirror to the health of the team“ The need to transmit the right mes- on the attack. not only expresses an opinion which sages in the dressing room and on the 4 The Technician N°46•E:Anglais 15.4.2010 16:11 Page 5 RAFAEL BENITEZ WITH STEVEN GERRARD, ONE OF HIS STALWARTS AT LIVERPOOL Getty Images training pitch is nicely expressed by the feeling that you know it all is one prepared to take the initiative and to another of Sir Alex’s firmly held con- of the great danger signs. permit themselves an element of risk. victions: “the drive, the hunger, the Defensive strategies can win games, passion must be inside you, be- Giovanni Trapattoni he always maintained, but they rarely cause players need to recognise (winner of all international competitions win titles. He also insisted on the im- that you care.“ with Juventus; league champion in Italy portance of positive dynamics within (seven times), Austria, Portugal and the group and the value of leadership Louis van Gaal Germany; national team coach of Italy qualities – among players as well as (UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and and, currently, the Republic of Ireland) the coach: “If you have the leader, UEFA Champions League winner with “With a club I was a sculptor – others adapt.“ AFC Ajax; league, cup and super cup with the national team I’m winner in the Netherlands and Spain) a blender.” Carlos Alberto Parreira “I do not think it is fair to judge Technician: This is a typically wonderful (FIFA World Cup finalist with four coaches purely on results.