Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2023

/25 Often we talk about this with negative connotations, but ego is something we all have. It’s important to get to know it and to control it. I think it’s easier to manage a good footballer. Firstly, because they’re good, and I want to have the best footballers. Secondly, because that ego, if it’s put to good use, it helps you to become better, it helps you to be ambitious. When the ego controls you and you can’t manage to control it, then that’s the issue. We try to chat with the players so they can express themselves. You’ve been in somany dressing rooms and you’ve coached great footballers. They all come fromdifferent countries, contexts, clubs and backgrounds. Howdo you manage this? When you are a player, you don’t really know that much about football, you just play. When you become a coach and you, you look back, I think I did actually not know much about football. It’s a very different job. What makes a good coach is the player. They need to be convinced about what you want to do, and I spent quite a lot of time explaining to the players why and what for. So, they understand what I’m saying and sometimes it’s good to have a discussion with a player because you listen to them, they can have their own say. You convince them and you take them to where you want to be. If the player learns to live with mistakes, it’s our job to live with these mistakes as well. We need to have the right attitude, especially during our training sessions. MASTERCLASS If you ask me how I want my teams to be, I will say very complete teams. You aspire to have a very complete team, and you always want to improve and have complete squads. You want your teams to have different reactions to different problems. You have your ideas, and then you will see a different thing in the squad with their own ideas because they will want to ruin your idea and to make a different thing. That’s why I like my teams to be very intense, to be very concentrated and be able to take the lead even if you don’t have the ball. This is something crucial as you can dictate the game without the ball because you are going where you want. Of course, you will have your own style, your way of playing, but every match has its own nuances, its own structure. An opposition with a good coach and excellent players that fight and you need to counteract that. We want teams with answers to understand the game. It is very important for players to understand what is going on, why are we pressing and what for? Because look at how they play and why? We want to take the ball, and they need to be convinced that they can implement this on the pitch. Could you explain your style of football and howdoes this linkwith your leadership style? I feel very exposed when you lose, It’s like a little death because you feel like you are dying. It is the end of the world. A black night.. You ask yourself, why did I do this? I could have done this differently but then the next day you need to resuscitate. You need to relive because 25 players are waiting for you and you need to know what you are doing. You need to analyze what happened before. You need to make the most of a defeat and take the positive things, as well as from victories, and then react. At the end of the day, that is my obligation to analyze things because this will be the first step for the next victory. Depending on how you react and how you solve the problems, then the squad will go along with you. When there is a badmistake or result, howdo you react? Howwouldyou describe yourself?