Blog

Coach – Coaching

Behind every great team that achieves results, produces quality football and plays an entertaining game, you will fi nd a manager or coach with a charismatic personality, who is frequently an emblematic fi gure within his club or country (a Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Ferguson, Hitzfeld, Jacquet, Lippi, Platini, Parreira, Roux, Trapattoni or Zagalo). There is no specifi c programme at youth level aimed at achieving high-quality performances or at changing the behaviour of a player without the full involvement of a coach or recognised instructor, such as Pekerman (Argentina), Pua (Uruguay), Queiroz …

Read More

Jose Mourinho: Sir Alex Ferguson ‘more than welcome’ at Man United

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has told United We Stand that Sir Alex Ferguson is welcome in the dressing room and at training — and the Scot has already been to the club’s Carrington base several times this season. Ferguson, 74, is a director at the club but had stayed away from Carrington since retiring as the club’s manager in 2013, after 26 years in charge. “He had not been back since he left, but I brought him back to be with his people,” Mourinho said. “I wanted the players to …

Read More

How to get players to listen to your advice

Many coaches make mistakes as they want players to buy into their views at all costs. No one likes to listen to advice and instructions, not even the players. We would all prefer to work according to our conscience and feel that our decisions are respected and praised. Players prefer when coaches respect them as a person, when they’re asked about their hopes and when their work and effort is respected. As I often say to you, Maxi, during my visit to Croatia I spent a lot of time talking with …

Read More

Knowledge is vital for success

It’s often said that a coach is a man who says on Friday he knows what will happen on Saturday, while on Sunday he’s explaining why it didn’t happen. The coaching profession is no longer exclusively linked with the pitch, the individual or even team. Today, alongside the work on the technical and tactical elements, a coach has to communicate with the media, sponsors, and fans. He also needs to show to the players his own example on how to behave, how to appear and to represent yourself to the public. …

Read More