Coaching not for the greats

“My qualities are not good enough for Ajax,” uttered Marco van Basten, one of the best strikers to ever grace the soccer pitch when he resigned from his job less than 12 months after taking over the coaching reins at his boyhood club Ajax Amsterdam. A few days earlier across the border in Germany, Jurgen Klinsmann, another great striker, had just been fired by Bayern Munich, a club that he played for with distinction scoring 31 goals in 65 games. These were two great players who couldn’t transform their magic from the pitch to the bench. This led to Gerard Houllier, one of the most respected coaches in world football to say former players are taking on coaching roles too soon. “Would a manager of a big company put somebody without experience into a key position in his company? No, he would not, but they do in football,” he said.

Football has shown that experience doesn’t count most of the time but there is an ugly side if you don’t deliver. They couldn’t make the right decisions when it mattered. They were both catapulted to their national team’s management after Euro 2004. After early promises and success with their national teams it looked like it was the right call and management was made for them. Forward that to the summer of 2008, they take over clubs they served faithfully during their playing days amid lots of fanfare and media hype — 10 to 11 months later and it looked like the clubs had made the wrong decision. It looked like they had jumped too soon from playing to the dugout. This showed that great players do not necessarily become great managers. It’s best they serve as an assistant or take a role with the junior teams so that they can learn their trade well away from the pressures of everyday senior team management. After all in every industry people have to prove themselves before they are offered a top job on a permanent basis, players have to attend trials, so why not coaches?

Some of the best coaches in the world spent time honing their skills somewhere else before they took on the big roles. Sir Alex Ferguson spent time in his native Scotland learning his trade with a smaller club, Aberdeen, before he went on to conquer Europe and the world with Manchester United. Arsene Wenger spent time coaching in his native France and later in Japan before landing at Arsenal. Jose Mourinho, one of the most successful coaches of modern times, spent time as Sir Bobby Robson’s translator and later as an assistant before going on to find success with Porto, Chelsea and recently Inter Milan. The greatest coach the world has ever seen, Rinus Michels, the godfather of “total football” spent five years honing his skills before he took over Ajax Amsterdam and later the Dutch national team.

But then there were former players who took to management like a fish to water: Laurent Blanc at Bordeaux and Pep Guardiola at Barcelona who found the right combination and made an instant success of their teams. Some found success but later couldn’t control their players’ egos like Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona and Roberto Mancini at Internazionale. There is also a breed of coaches who choose to surround themselves with coaches who have been successful at the very top. Maradona and Carlos Dunga did this when they took over the reins of Argentina and Brazil respectively.

Long term it shows that former players need to learn their trade before they jump from the pitch to the dugout and the experience gained from working your way up the ladder cannot be understated.