Source: "The Technician" , UEFA Newsletter.
BY ANDY ROXBURGH, UEFA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR.
Evaluating Coaches
The vast majority of the players (1,400 to be exact) responded to the questionnaire and the findings were good news for the NFL, with 90% saying that they respected their head coach, three-quarters confirming that they trusted their coach and 79% declaring that their coach was top quality. More than 50% of the players surveyed said that their professional coach was the most influential coach in their lives. The NFL players went on to identify communication skills, motivational ability, approachability, management acumen and a capacity to lead by example as the most desirable attributes in a head coach. This interesting feedback from NFL players provides a reminder that coaches in all professional sports are always under scrutiny and are constantly being evaluated by fans, media, other coaches and, of course, their players.
During recent UEFA coaching events, we addressed the issue of the coach as a leader and examined the qualities that followers (i.e. players) look for in a football boss.
A star guest at these meetings was Paulo Sousa, the Portuguese midfielder who won the UEFA Champions League with both Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. Paulo, now the head coach of Queens Park Rangers in England, shared with UEFA's frontline technicians his experience as a player working with a number of elite coaches. During these sessions he highlighted the main things he had gained from his illustrious coaches. "Carlos Queiroz gave me the mentality to be a winner, to reach the top. Sven-Goran Eriksson at Benfica increased my confidence and inspired me to be a successful professional. Marcello Lippi at Juventus made me think about the game by constantly questioning me about tactics after training sessions or matches. And Ottmar Hitzfeld at Dortmund encouraged me and gave me the responsibility to be a leader on the pitch", said the former Portuguese international, who concluded by saying: "Three things help you to develop into a top player: the level of the competition, the quality of your teammates and the ability of your coach."
Paulo's statement also applies to youth football, and the influence of the coach on young, promising talents cannot be over-emphasised. I once asked some national youth team players what qualities they looked for in a coach. Honesty, approachability, patience and fairness were among the main attributes on the wish list, while passion, ability to read the game, the communication skills to handle one-to-one relationships, football coaching expertise, the strength to demand
and set high standards, and the football- human qualities of a role model were also highlighted. Even youth players know what they need and are willing to make judgements on the capacity of their mentors and guides.
At professional level, when the team is winning and a player is in the starting line-up, then the coach usually gets pass
marks. But when the tactics sometimes fail to deliver, or the substitutions don't quite have the desired effect, or the new
signing doesn't impress the squad members, doubts about the coach's ability begin to surface. In the wise words of
Sir Bobby Robson: "The coach today must be a good judge of a player, because nothing beats signing a new man and knowing that the players are impressed with the new acquisition. Your reputation can depend on your judgement of a player, on your ability in the transfer market."
In the "bullring" of football management, it is one thing to be judged harshly by supporters or the media, but it is a sad
state of affairs when coaches publicly criticise their colleagues. One of the best statements on this unacceptable behaviour was made by Otto Rehhagel following his triumph with Greece at EURO 2004. The German master coach said at the time: "During the tournament in Portugal, Dick Advocaat was being heavily criticised in Holland by players and even coaches - so much so, that he left the coaches' association. If I have to talk about a fellow coach, I prefer to keep my mouth shut unless I can find something positive to say. I find it difficult to swallow that coaches criticise a colleague in a destructive manner via TV. We should never publicly criticise the way a colleague is working." (The footnote to this quote is a reminder that Dick Advocaat, currently head coach of FC Zenit St. Petersburg, won the 2008 UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup for his Russian employers).
But back to the players. They will inevitably evaluate their coaches and it is important for each coach to be aware of their players' expectations and needs - not to appease them or accede to their demands, but to understand each individual and to provide strong, appropriate leadership. Recently, in a BBC interview, Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal FC voiced his opinion about his coach, Arsène Wenger: "The only three people I owe something to in my life are my dad, my mother and Arsène Wenger. I'm living a dream, and he [Arsène Wenger] gave me my opportunity at the age of 16." I think it would be safe to assume that it's not just in the NFL that players appreciate their coaches. Given the chance, I'm sure that elite European footballers would be equally fulsome in their praise of those who coach, manage and lead them in today's professional game.
