“Mr. The Soccer Coach.

Author: Paco Arias.

Senior Sports Technician.

National Soccer Coach.

Website: www.futboltrainer.com

Email: [email protected]

Introduction: What does it mean to be a football coach?

I have read over time many interviews with football coaches, both professionals and
technicians who work with the grassroots. I also read articles from other specialists such
as psychologists on topics related to the world of coaches, and I have also lived my own
experience over the years moving in the world of grassroots football, training in all
categories, from juniors to youth players. by juveniles, children and cadets and I have
drawn my own conclusions based on all the experiences experienced, on the knowledge
that living football from the field itself gives you and logically I have learned, watching,
listening and reading the opinions of other coaches and professionals related to the
world of sports and this is what, from my modesty, I want to contribute in this course.

CLASS 1:

QUALITIES THAT A COACH MUST HAVE TO SUCCEED (or Simply to be a good coach).

There are so many that it is practically impossible for a single person, no matter how
good a coach he is and no matter how many titles he has achieved, to be able to bring
them all together. It is evident that the more qualities you have of those listed below,
the better coach you will be. I have tried to compile those that, in the opinion of various
coaches that I am aware of, are important, as well as those that particularly seem
essential to me.
They are not listed in any order of preference because in some cases I would not be able
to determine which are more important than others, what I am clear about is that there
are some qualities that are essential for a coach.

- LEADERSHIP: Having the ability to manage and direct a group and at the same time
control the environment that surrounds it.

- VOCATION: You have to like the “trade”, although this is valid to successfully develop
any profession you choose.

- SELF-CONTROL: To face with serenity and calm complicated situations that will arise
throughout the competition in which the coach, due to the position he occupies, must
be the first to remain calm.

- MOTIVATOR: You must know how to motivate your players to develop their full
sporting potential by applying the most appropriate methods.

- PSYCHOLOGIST: You have to know the different personalities of each player to know
how to treat them on an individual level. In team sports, you not only have to study the
psychology of the group as a whole, you also have to worry about individualities since
each soccer player is different and you have to know how to treat them according to
their way of being. There are all kinds of them, shy, conflictive, insecure, lazy,
undisciplined, etc...

- ORGANIZER: You must have the ability to know how to plan and organize work and put
it into practice in a methodical and controlled way.

- AMBITIOUS: The coach must always aspire to the maximum. And do not settle for
partial successes when you can achieve higher goals.

- DECIDED: You have to dare at every moment to make the most convenient decisions
for the team even if these are not at that moment the most popular or most liked by the
team, management, fans, etc....

- EXTROVERT: To be enthusiastic about his work and know how to spread that
enthusiasm to his players.
- RECEPTIVE: Know how to listen and accept constructive criticism to correct possible
errors. The coach should never believe that he knows everything or that he is always in
possession of the truth, although in the end he is “always the one who has the last word
when making decisions that are only within his competence.”

- CHARISMATIC: That the footballers he manages have complete confidence in him and
his work and that they value him for his ability and prestige.

- RECEPTIVE: To know how to accept constructive criticism and rectify when you make
wrong decisions or make mistakes. The coach should not believe that he is in possession
of the truth and think that he is always right. You must know how to listen to other
opinions even if in the end you have the last word regarding functions that are only your
exclusive competence and no one else's.

- PERSEVERANT: To “believe” the work you do. Be consistent in your approaches when
you are convinced of them and that the path taken is the most convenient even if
sometimes the results say otherwise.

- FIRM: Know at all times the “terrain” you are treading and show the necessary
firmness in your way of directing the team and at no time demonstrate the insecurity
typical of someone who sometimes does not know where they are going.

- COMMUNICATOR: To know how to transmit your knowledge. It is not enough to be an

expert in the subject, you have to know how to convey that knowledge to its recipient.
There are former soccer players, for example, who, having been great figures or
excellent professionals on the field of play, when they become coaches do not know
how to convey to their disciples what they knew how to develop wonderfully in practice
when they were active.

To communicate, one must not only use words, but also gestures, looks, hand
movements, the way of speaking, looking for a language that is understood and that
connects with the person to whom something is being transmitted. You have to know
how to give reassurance when necessary, lower the tone of your voice or raise it
according to the needs of the moment. In short, what is transmitted has to offer the
player security to achieve the set objective, conviction in the game system used and
credibility to know that the chosen direction is the correct one to achieve the
established objective.

- DEMANDING: You should never let the footballer “settle”. It is necessary to demand
the maximum of his possibilities, although you cannot ask him for more than he can
give.

The coach must always show vigor when carrying out his work, ensuring that no
footballer acts with reluctance or appears excessively conformist, much less that this
and other negative aspects such as pessimism or discouragement spread to the rest of
the team. That is where the coach must show his strength as group leader.

- OBSERVER: Be aware of everything around you. Knowing how to see what is

happening not only within the team, but also around it. Continuously draw conclusions
from everything he observes, from his players, from the opposing team, from other
coaches, etc….

- PROFESSIONAL: Both when training and when directing the team in games, the coach
must have everything “controlled”, down to the smallest detail. Leave nothing to
improvisation, demonstrating your total professionalism at all times.

A coach must always know how to handle all the mechanisms of his profession and have
sufficient resources to handle himself in compromised situations.

-PREPARATION: The coach needs a whole “arsenal of knowledge”. It must be fully

updated. As they say “stay up to date”. Always aware of all the developments that occur
in the development of your activity. You must continually retrain and increase your
knowledge, which is why your ability to “learn and improve” is essential. You must
examine and read all material in the form of books, specialized magazines, articles,
works, reports, dossiers, etc. falls into your hands and that you consider interesting. You
must also move through that inexhaustible source of documentation that is the Internet
and also view material in other types of formats such as video, DVD, CD.Rom, etc. You
will try to attend talks, clinics, seminars , meetings, conferences, congresses and other
events related to your activity to increase your knowledge and take improvement and
updating courses whenever you can to keep up with the ever-increasing demands that
your work demands.
When you have an “authentic vocation to be a coach, you are aware that you never
know enough and that you never stop learning.”

CLASS 2: OTHER IMPORTANT QUALITIES.

- Do not have ANIMADVERSION against any player. Sometimes the coach takes a liking
to a footballer and that makes him not be fair when it comes to fielding him.

- Have an APPROPRIATE APPEARANCE in accordance with the profession you perform.

Many times the coach neglects his physical form and his appearance with excess weight,
projecting a negative image to his players. How are you going to ask your footballers to
run and make an effort when you are incapable of staying even minimally in shape?

- Know how to instill in the footballer the concept of PROGRESSION at work. We already
know that at a professional level “only winning matters”, but it is also very important to
set the goal of improving day by day, especially in lower categories.

- Know how to apply POSITIVE REINFORCEMENTS at all times when motivating the
footballer. Any improvement, any progress that occurs, no matter how small, must be
made evident so that it serves as a stimulus to the player, especially if it is someone who
is just starting out in football.

- Know how to CORRECT mainly when working with young soccer players. It is not just
about training and complying with an established plan, on an individual level you have
to be aware of the mistakes that are made and make them visible to the player so that
they do not repeat them again, also trying to be understanding of those mistakes,
especially when the person who makes them commit does everything possible to try to
do it well.

- Don't be a DICTATOR. Things are not done “because I feel like it”, you have to explain
in detail the work that is going to be done, what you want to achieve and above all
“convince” of its effectiveness. Likewise, in other types of decisions, the coach will be
much more effective in his work if when making decisions he applies the famous saying
of using “the force of reason and not the reason of force.”

- Have CLEAR IDEAS. Do not confuse footballers with continuous changes that lead to
disorientation. Not continually changing depending on the opposite. We have to worry
more about “how our own house is than the neighbor's.” That is why it is very
important to provide the team with its “own style” and perfect it every day. That is
always much better than making continuous changes and starting from scratch each
time.

- Know how to CONCRETE when giving instructions to players, especially in games. The
footballer should not be overwhelmed with an excess of information since it often
achieves the opposite effect to what is intended and instead of clarifying what is
achieved, it confuses. You have to be specific and “get to the point” making it clear what
we are interested in getting from him.

If you are lucky enough to spend an entire season on a team (in Spain, unfortunately for
coaches, this is not usually the case), there will be time to gradually provide the player
with the necessary instructions so that he can assimilate them in an progressive.

- Be REALISTIC when setting goals. You must always have your feet on the ground and
not set goals that are impossible to achieve. At an individual level it is very important to
tell the footballer what his limits are, so that he knows what he can and should not do.

- Be a CREDIBLE coach. The footballer should not be deceived with false promises and
told on Monday that he is going to play on Sunday to keep him happy or that if he was a
reserve in a game or was not called up, that he will have his opportunity in the next
when in reality it is not So. When you promise something you have to fulfill it, otherwise
it is better not to say anything because if the coach loses his credibility with the player
that will greatly harm him in his job.

- There are more qualities that benefit the figure of the coach, such as DYNAMISM to
continually look for new formulas and ideas to improve the team. In this aspect, the
coach who intends to improve his team should never stand still.
- OPTIMISM to always see the positive side of things, especially in defeats or when
things do not go as well as one would like.

- The INITIATIVE, to dare to carry out different approaches that sometimes carry their
share of risk.

- HUMANITY, to know how to treat footballers with the doses of affection and
understanding that they deserve as people.

The coach is not a “Marine Sergeant” or an “Ice Man”, he is a person and for his players
to respect them he does not need to appear cold and distant (although this is somewhat
related to the way belonging to each one), you only have to “know how to always be in
your position.”

CLASS 3: COACH MISSIONS.

There are a series of functions that are specified in your contract and that we could say
are “sacred” and that are part of your rights as a coach and that are granted by law. All
of us coaches have signed contracts and we know what they say and we should “never”
give up what belongs to us no matter how much pressure we receive. We already know
that in the world of football there are “characters” who love to be coaches when they
are not, because they do not even have the corresponding qualification, much less the
necessary knowledge.

Once this brief introduction about the coach's missions has been made, we would say
the following in relation to all the work that must be carried out in a team.

- Set the objectives to be met by the team.

- Plan and direct training sessions.

- Establish behavioral norms for the group and know how to apply the corresponding
sanctions when these are breached.
- Always reward positive actions that are aimed at benefiting the team.

- Knowing how to get out of the squad all the performance it is capable of giving, both
individually and collectively.

- Place each player in the position where he can perform the most and also know how
to adapt him according to his individual conditions to other positions where he can
contribute good work for the benefit of the team.

- Choose the “best” players for each match and that does not mean that the “best” are
always the most technically gifted, but rather those who, when a match is imminent, are
in optimal shape to make the most profitable possible contribution to the team.

- Train both collectively and individually, since sometimes only specific work is done
with the goalkeepers and there are also other areas that can be improved if they are
worked individually or in small groups.

- Make the training sessions “real”, that is, as close to games as possible, and for that
the work sessions must have minimum levels of intensity and demand. There is a well-
known phrase in football that is absolutely true that says: “You play how you train.”

- Be with the team both when you win and when you don't. If you lose, that is when you
have to support the footballer the most, encouraging him and teaching him to accept
defeats so that he knows how to process them and draw conclusions from them that
will help him for the following games.

- Never let the bad behavior of a footballer destabilize the group.

- Know how to manage and direct the team both individually and collectively in training
and in games alike. If you train well but direct poorly it is not worth it and vice versa
neither.

- Know how to control excess “euphoria” when good results occur continuously. You
have to know how to prepare the team for when defeat appears because sooner or
later it comes.

- It is very important to work with footballers on the aspect of “concentration” both in

training and in games. Many times the player is distracted by chatting with his
teammate during a training session or during a match, he worries more about what the
public tells him than about the mission he must carry out on the field of play. These and
other similar aspects must be taken into account by the coach to ensure that the
footballer is fully concentrated on his work and avoids all types of distractions that harm
the work he has to do.

- Achieve total involvement of the footballers in the work being done. Let no one be on
the sidelines of the team. We must instill in all players the “group idea”, the importance
of the word “team” and everything it means. Let everyone be very clear that the
objectives that are established can only be achieved with the sum of the efforts of all
the members of the staff and that if there is someone who does not assume their
responsibilities or "hides" when it comes to giving their better than he has inside, apart
from harming himself, he also harms his colleagues, which is much worse.

The player must always know that the team is “his best partner”, the one who is there
to support him at all times, the one who will never fail him because he is the strongest
teammate (his strength is given by the sum of the effort collective), therefore the
footballer must be reciprocal with the team and contribute everything he has inside for
the benefit of the common good.

- Before the matches you have to be foresight enough to have alternatives available to
certain situations that may arise during the development of the game:

* Changes due to injuries, sanctions, poor performance, etc.

* Variants or changes in the game system used

* Various situations, for example, being left without a goalkeeper and having to use a

field player...

* Other possible.

- Have the most detailed information possible about the template. Complete data on
the players, physical, technical, psychological, etc....
- Information about opposing teams. Everything that may be considered necessary to
use in the planning and approach of the matches to be played.

CLASS 4: TEAM OF COLLABORATORS.

A coach must always be surrounded by a good team of collaborators to ensure that his
work is as effective as possible. When we talk about the professional level, the work
team that surrounds the coach is usually made up of the second coach, a technician
who specifically prepares the goalkeepers, the physical trainer, the doctor, the
physiotherapist and in some teams also a psychologist. Obviously not in all clubs the
coach has such collaboration. It all depends on the category of the team and above all
on the economic potential it has and if we talk about amateur or beginner categories
possibly the collaboration will be reduced to a SECOND COACH and thank you, that is
why I want to refer in this chapter to the people who carry out this mission.

- He must always be a person of “total trust” chosen by the head coach and never
imposed by the club.

- It must be someone who, based on the trust you have in him, is given the
responsibility and sufficient powers to carry out his work, making him feel important
within the group and above all, never disavowing him in public. Hence the importance
of the “connection” that must always exist between the first and second technicians to
function as a team and be in perfect harmony with each other.

- The mission of the second coach is very broad and serves, among other things, to
“offload” work from the first, who delegates to him certain functions that are of great
importance for the proper functioning of the team.

- In the past, the second coach was limited in training to calling the games, handing out
the bibs and training the goalkeepers. Today that has changed and working as a duo
with the first coach has meant a significant improvement in the team's preparation.

- The specific missions of the second coach can cover the following sections:
* Help control the locker room and serve as a liaison between the players and the head
coach.

* Specific work with the goalkeepers.

* Individual work with certain players who need to improve their technical conditions.
This is important especially in lower categories.

* Work in groups, sharing the equipment with the first coach.

* Training and recovery with players who for various reasons must work apart from the
main group because they have come back from an injury or are short of preparation for
various reasons.

* Direct warm-ups, stretching (start and end) and relaxation (end) in training sessions.
This is usually done by the physical trainer, but not all teams have a professional with
these characteristics, especially non-professional clubs.

* Carry out statistical controls on the squad related to training sessions carried out and
matches played, among other aspects.

* Prepare reports on opposing teams.

* Create a “good atmosphere” in the locker room.

* Replace the head coach with guarantee when necessary due to work needs or simply
if he or she becomes ill.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS.

- The coach, especially at a professional level, depends on the “results”, therefore,

except in exceptional cases, he must always try to plan in the short term because
unfortunately he will not have much time for his work to be effective.
- Apart from the knowledge that must be continually acquired, the coach's work relies
heavily on observation and experience and that, when well channeled, will have a
positive impact on the exercise of his profession.

- Coaches who work with the little ones and young people must always try not to
increase their emotional tension with excessive demands since at these ages the players
are also usually subjected to situations that usually generate stress such as exams,
difficulty in understanding with parents and in general other types of inconveniences
typical of adolescence.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Documentation and material consulted for the preparation of this course:

- BOOK “THE COACH”.

(R.Martens, R.W.Christina, J.S.Harvey, B.J.Sharkey).

- BOOK “MEN FOR FOOTBALL”.

(Santiago Coca).

- COURSE “PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING IN SPORTS”.

(Codex Center for Training in Psychology).

- “THE SPANISH FOOTBALL COACH” MAGAZINE.

Articles:

“Coach Classes” (Miguel García Arroyo).

“The Coach, individual differences in personality and leadership styles”

(José Luis Fernández Seara).

“The role of the assistant coach.”

(Carlos Marín López).

“From personal dynamics to group dynamics.”

(Santiago Coca).

"The coach is always alone).

(Francisco Alvarez Arias).

- “TRAINING FOOTBALL” MAGAZINE.

“The role of the coach.”

(Angel Cappa Polchi).

“The football coach.”

(Miguel Ángel Lotina Oduechevarría).